#YNosotrosQue Activists Voice Their Concern at Governor Murphy’s Virtual Town Hall

Advocates’ Questions Are Ignored by the Governor, Who Provided Insiders with COVID-19 Relief but Excluded Essential Workers

NEW JERSEY – June 18, 2021 – Governor Phil Murphy was joined by essential immigrants’ rights activists this week at the governor’s virtual town hall. With the state’s FY2022 budget to be approved on June 30, advocates voiced their demand that the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund provides relief to all undocumented essential workers. Advocates demand an allocation of $989 million dollars in recovery aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund would only provide relief to 10% of those who need help. They note that $40 million in relief funds is simply not enough, and would equate to a $96 payment per person, as opposed to the thousands of dollars each New Jersey citizen received throughout the pandemic.

As a result, they have launched a campaign demanding action from the governor and invite supporters to take action by contacting him and New Jersey State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio on their website: njexcludedworkers.com. According to the coalition, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted communities of color in NJ the most, and continuing to ignore the needs of 460,000 essential immigrant workers and their 127,000 NJ-born children is unconscionable.

During the town hall, activists demanded the governor provide real relief to all undocumented essential workers in New Jersey but their chat comments were ignored. #YNosotrosQue (which translates to “What about us?”) argues that New Jersey has the resources to provide relief: NJ Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio testified recently that the NJ has a surplus of $10 billion dollars for the 2021 budget year; that includes $4 billion in unexpected taxes and $6 billion in aid for excluded workers through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

Just this past weekend, Antonio Zamora, an essential immigrant worker, lost his battle with COVID-19. Antonio contracted the virus while working to provide for his family because he was never able to receive any recovery assistance. Zamora leaves behind a son with Down Syndrome, who is now part of the many immigrant families left without fathers in NJ; a recent report revealed that Latinos make up nearly 50% of all COVID-19 related deaths, with NJ seeing “whole generations of fathers” being lost. Without additional funds added to the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund, more families like Zamora’s will continue to suffer irreparable financial and emotional harm that will stay with NJ children for life.

Advocates  will continue to remind voters and elected officials that it is not a progressive value to leave behind 90% of essential workers from the pandemic recovery aid coming from Washington D.C. through the $6 billion dollars in the American Rescue Plan. NJ cannot move forward by leaving families like the Zamora’s behind.

It is time for Governor Murphy and the NJ Legislature to do the right thing by NJ’s working families and provide pandemic relief to all essential immigrant workers. Both the Governor and the NJ Legislature need to insert an allocation of $989 million dollars into the Excluded Workers Fund before the budget deadline on June 30th, 2021.

According to the governor’s statement back in May, the Excluded Workers Fund provides funds for “New Jerseyans who have previously been ineligible for federal assistance, including ITIN holders and others previously excluded from COVID relief assistance such as federal stimulus checks or unemployment insurance. The Excluded New Jerseyans Fund will provide a one-time cash assistance benefit of up to $2,000 to households with incomes up to $55,000 that can demonstrate they have suffered economic hardship due to COVID-19.”

Advocates explain that the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund was a step in the right direction but it’s not enough; it excludes 90% of workers who need relief.