Coalition Responds to Closure of Excluded New Jerseyan Fund

Citing “Profound Need for Aid,” Coalition of Organizations Call on Gov. Murphy to Reopen the Fund, Urges Legislature and Governor to Fully Fund the Program

The Fund Received More than 35,000 Applications, the Majority in the Past Month After the State Streamlined Applications and Increased Outreach in Response to Community Pressure

NEW JERSEY — Immigrant, worker and advocacy organizations responded to the closure of the Excluded New Jerseyan Fund on February 28th, and the news that the Fund had received more than 35,000 applications. They called on the Governor to reopen the program and the legislature to fully fund the program.

“Just as our communities were finally finding out about Excluded New Jerseyan Fund, it closed this week. The need for aid for the half million people left behind from COVID relief programs is profound. The Excluded NJ Fund is the first time I was able to access assistance during the pandemic. I got sick with COVID as an essential worker but I didn’t qualify for any aid and had to depend on food pantries to feed my family and went into debt to pay for medicine. All of our clinics at Make the Road New Jersey have had lines around the block with people desperate for relief. The state made important changes to the program, now they should continue the Fund so that everyone has the opportunity to apply. We urge the legislature and Gov. Murphy to fully fund the Excluded NJ program so that no one is left behind,” said Felix Gallardo, member leader of Make the Road New Jersey and participant in a 24 day hunger strike of excluded essential workers. 

“We are pleased to see the Excluded Worker Fund has received 35,000 applications. While we greatly appreciate the Governor’s commitment to make the systems more accessible and reinstate the funds, we have only scratched the surface of what is needed in New Jersey. It is our duty to protect all New Jerseyans, but also to give special attention to those who silently keep the state running and contribute the growth of the state and its economy,” said Kevin Brown, 32BJ Vice President and New Jersey State Director.

Emilio Flores, member leader of the Laundry Workers Center, said: “Governor Murphy, as a beneficiary of the New Jersey Excluded Fund, I want to tell you that it was a great help for my family to receive economic relief in these moments of crisis. For this reason, I demand that the fund remain open for our community, and the amount be increased to one billion to cover the needs of all our working people.”

“The overwhelming application numbers should not come as a surprise to anyone who has listened to community leaders and advocates from day one. It is thanks to their sustained pressure that the changes made in the final month of the Excluded New Jerseyan Fund resulted in lines out the door and endless phone calls to NJAIJ service providers. Today, there are still hundreds of thousands of excluded New Jerseyans that didn’t receive the aid they deserve. The 35,000 applications are direct evidence of the need for the application process to be re-opened and to invest $1 billion to deliver a recovery for all,” said Laura Bustamante, Policy and Campaign Manager at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice