Dear Governor Newsom,

While all Californians are struggling with the economic and practical realities of living under a statewide Shelter In Place Order and the coronavirus pandemic, one group of California residents will be the hardest hit: undocumented immigrants. More than two million undocumented immigrants make California their home. Nearly one in ten California workers is an undocumented worker. Over seventy percent (70%) of undocumented Californians have resided in the U.S. for more than ten years.

A report from the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants contribute over $3 billion dollars in taxes to California. The state controller has estimated that undocumented immigrant’s labor is worth more than $180 billion per year to California’s economy.

While many Californians are able to comply with the Shelter in Place Order while continuing to earn money by working from home, remote work from home is simply not an option for the majority of California’s undocumented workers. A recent EPI study found that very few low-wage workers, especially Latinx workers, are able to work remotely. Due to the Shelter in Place Order, these workers are losing their jobs or having their hours drastically curtailed. Moreover, even though these workers pay taxes and contribute to the state’s prosperity, undocumented workers are unable to access vital benefits such as unemployment insurance. The inability to earn a living will have a devastating impact on undocumented immigrants. Already, undocumented immigrants are living precariously - over half live at or below 150% of the poverty level. Accordingly, it is imperative that the state meet these workers’ basic needs so that they can comply with the Shelter in Place Order without fearing that they will not be able to feed and house their families.

California has taken the lead in protecting and expanding rights for undocumented immigrants. A majority of Californians support state and local government action (in the absence of federal leadership) to protect undocumented immigrants.
We ask for that same leadership to protect our most vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge the Governor and the California State Legislature to exercise their authority to allow access to benefit programs, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, and immediately take the following actions:

1. Create and fund a “Disaster Relief Fund” housed within the Employment Development Department (EDD) for undocumented workers, or other workers who are not eligible for benefits administered by EDD, and who are unable to work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, either because of a lay-off, reduction in hours, a shelter-in-place order, or because they are taking care of a child whose school or childcare has closed due to the current pandemic. This “Disaster Relief Fund” shall be funded exclusively by the State of California, and shall be administered as follows:
a. The EDD shall create an online and paper application similar to the existing applications for State Disability Insurance or Unemployment Insurance;
b. The Disaster Relief Fund will be administered by EDD’s State Disability Insurance / Paid Family Leave Unit;
c. The Disaster Relief Fund shall provide qualified individuals with immediate cash relief until such time as the Emergency Proclamation is lifted or until the qualified individual is able to return to work;
d. Workers who apply to the fund will have to establish base period earnings equivalent to what would be required under Unemployment Insurance;
e. Each eligible worker shall receive $600 per week;
f. Multiple forms of identification will be accepted in applications for this program, such as: identifications issued by the State of California, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, Consular Identifications, Passports, or lapsed Social Security Numbers;
g. Multiple forms of earnings verification will be accepted, including tax returns and self-reported income;
h. All payments made from the Disaster Relief Fund shall be retroactive to the date of the Emergency Proclamation or the date that the individual had their work hours reduced or eliminated, whichever date falls later;
i. The EDD shall immediately increase its staffing in order to administer the Disaster Relief Fund and expedite processing;
j. All information or documentation obtained by EDD from applicants to the Disaster Relief Fund be used exclusively for the purposes of administering these programs and shall not be disclosed to any other entity or individual for any other purpose; and
k. Implementation of the Disaster Relief Fund shall commence no later than May 1, 2020

2. Allocate $10 million to Community Based Organizations that are geographically diverse serving undocumented immigrants to provide cash benefits to undocumented immigrants to pay for groceries, rent/mortgage, emergency home repairs, transportation, medicines, and tools.

3. Broaden eligibility for the California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), including the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC), to include all immigrants, and immediately making it retroactive to tax year 2019.

4. Commit to establish a permanent income replacement program within the Employment Development Department for individuals who do not otherwise qualify for unemployment benefits, but who are unemployed through no fault of their own. This fund would be administered separately from UI, but using the same criteria for determining the duration, amount, and timing of benefits.

Sincerely,

9to5, National Association of Working Women
AFSCME 3299
Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California
Asian Law Alliance
Bet Tzedek
Bright Beginnings
CA Food Policy Advocates
California Association of Food Banks
California Domestic Workers Coalition
California Employment Lawyers Association
California Faculty Association -SF State University
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)
California National Organization for Women
California Nonprofits Association
California Reinvestment Coalition
California Women's Law Center
California Work & Family Coalition
Center for Workers' Rights
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)
Central Coast Early Childhood Advocacy Network
Centro Laboral de Graton / ALMAS
Centro Legal de la Raza
Children's Defense Fund - California
Chinese Progressive Association
CLEAN Carwash Campaign
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Community Bridges
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
County Welfare Directors Association
CRLA Foundation
Dolores Street Community Services - La Colectiva / Day Labor Program
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Educators for Peaceful Classrooms and Communities
El Pajaro Community Development Corporation
Employee Rights Center
Equal Rights Advocates
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Future Leaders of America
Garment Worker Center
Golden State Opportunity
GRACE Institute/End Child Poverty in CA
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Healthy Kids Happy Faces
Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco
Human Agenda
Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA)
Instituto Laboral de la Raza
Jewish Center for Justice
Jobs with Justice San Francisco
KIWA (Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance)
Korean Community Center of the East Bay
La Raza Centro Legal
Labor and Community Studies, City College of San Francisco
Latinos in Action 2020
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Aid of Marin
Live Oak Cradle to Career Initiative
Los Angeles Worker Center Network
Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund (MCTF)
Maitri
MAIZ San Jose
Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP)
National Council of Jewish Women - California
National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Employment Law Project
National Immigration Law Center
National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
National Lawyers Guild SF Bay Area Legislative Reform Committee
Never Again UUSF
NorCal Resist
North Bay Organizing Project
Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development
(OCCORD)
Oxfam America
Oxnard College
Parent Voices CA
Partnership for Working Families
Partnerships for Trauma Recovery
PAWIS (Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants)
Refugee & Immigrant Transitions
Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) the Bay
Sacred Heart Community Service
Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition
Santa Cruz Community Health
Santa Cruz Community Ventures
SEIU California
SEIU-United Service Workers West
Senior and Disability Action
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
Street Level Health Project
Teamsters Local Union No. 890
Thai Community Development Center
The Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund
The Unity Council
TODEC Legal Center
Together We Will - San José
UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program
UCLA Labor Center
UFCW LOCAL 135
UndocuFund for Disaster Relief
UNITE HERE International Union
United Educators of San Francisco
Voices for Progress
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Women's Foundation of California
Women’s Employment Rights Clinic -Golden Gate University
Working Partnerships USA
Worksafe
Young Workers United
YWCA Monterey County

CC:
California Lawmakers
Labor Secretary Su