The New York Times reported the state legislature created a COVID relief fund to give unemployed illegal immigrants a one-time payment of up to $15,600 each if they can prove that they lived in New York and were out of work due to the pandemic. The “excluded workers fund” contains $2.1 billion for the effort and was included as part of passing New York’s $212 billion budget in an agreement reached on Tuesday.
Cuomo announced the program during his budget briefing on Tuesday.
The creation of the fund became a contentious point in budget negotiations, even among Democrats in Albany. Tensions spilled over onto Twitter, according to the Daily News. Some legislators worried the bill went too far and concerned that constituents who also have been struggling but have seen no relief might be angry about the measure.
The Fund’s inclusion in the budget came after a coalition of supporters organized, protested, and staged a hunger strike.
People celebrated the announcement in the streets and on Twitter.
But not everyone is celebrating.
There is no official tally of undocumented immigrants in New York, but the Migration Policy Institute put that number near 900,000 in 2018.
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