Immigration
Reuters

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared that a combination of funds from public and the private sectors are reserved for state workers who are treated as ineligible recipients of the federal government's stimulus checks. The Disaster Relief Fund amounts to $125 million.

The state's emergency assistance plan will allow each immigrant family to receive as much as $1,000 cash assistance in lieu of the federal government's coronavirus relief package.

Program to support undocumented immigrants

The new program launched by the California government seeks to support the undocumented families residing in the state who are considered unqualified for the stimulus checks by the federal government.

According to Public Policy Institute of California, there are over 2 million undocumented immigrants in California alone, and most of the population that accounts for this are Latin Americans. Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees estimated that $7 billion in taxes were paid by unauthorized immigrants, who comprised about 10% of the workforce.

To support more undocumented immigrants, the California government is said to contribute $75 million for the Disaster Relief Fund and private charity groups are to accumulate $50 million. State social services say this can be distributed to as many as 150,000 qualified individuals.

Those wishing to apply for the fund must be a legal adult recognized by the U.S. government and must present proof of financial difficulties that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The applications for the state funding are deliberated on a first-come, first serve basis.

Before applying, undocumented immigrants must first contact the nearest of the twelve organizations working with the state department of social services for the application process.

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Undocumented students not included in the CARES program

Some organizations started to sue the federal government for the exclusion of the immigrants in the CARES program.

Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the Board of Governors at California Community Colleges have already filed a lawsuit against officials in the Department of Education because of the "unconstitutional restrictions" placed on the coronavirus aid for students in the CARES Act.

Oakley believed that the intent of the distribution of the stimulus packages was to financially support students during the pandemic. However, 800,000 students in the schools were excluded from the emergency grants, which were supposed to go to higher education relief worth over $14 billion.

The Department of Education in turn said that only those who qualified for the program were eligible for federal financial assistance, meaning, those who finished high school, enrolled in credit programs, and had satisfactory grades.

Based on a report by the chancellor's office at the community colleges, more than half a million of the students enrolled for the semester alone were regarded as ineligible for the coronavirus aid. This number included 70,000 undocumented immigrant students.

In response, Angela Morabito from the Department of Education said in a statement that there was no legal support that said the U.S. Congress intended the CARES Act to go to "entitled DACA recipients" that they deemed ineligible for the financial aid from taxpaying citizens.