Washington’s governor has announced a $40 million novel coronavirus relief fund to help undocumented workers in the state who have been blocked from federal economic assistance, The Seattle Times reports. “We have to ensure that no one in our state is left behind as we fight this pandemic,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in the report.
It’s the right and just step to take: undocumented farm workers in the state have so far been barred from economic relief by the federal government even though that same federal government has deemed them “essential workers” during the pandemic.
“This governor’s announcement of the funds comes as COVID-19 surges through Washington’s Latino population, including documented and undocumented immigrant farmworkers who have continued working throughout the pandemic,” the report said. “Among Washingtonians testing positive for the novel coronavirus as of Aug. 9, 43% were Latinos, who represent only 13% of the state’s population.”
Furthermore, farm workers being deemed “essential” hasn’t meant they’ve also gained vital protections, like guaranteed paid sick leave or unemployment insurance—or even any protection from deportation. An April report from The New York Times noted that the “essential worker” letter that employers gave to undocumented workers in California granted them zero relief from mass deportation agents.
Once operational, Oregon’s relief fund is expected to distribute $1,000 grants to individual applicants, and up to $3,000 to families in need. Interestingly, the governor’s office said in the report that the funds are coming from federal funding that isn’t tied to immigration status, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Republicans challenge this (they already have elsewhere). “Inslee is starting another $3 million fund for food-production workers—whether undocumented immigrants or not—who become ill and are staying home,” the report continued.
Because the state is home nearly 250,000 undocumented residents, immigrant rights advocates told The Seattle Times that they’d been pushing for a larger fund of $100 million. “[M]embers nevertheless declared themselves pleased,” the report said, with local organizations like Washington Dream Coalition and Mercy Corps Northwest also having distributed grants to undocumented families in the state.
Even though this is the right step to take, Washington joins just a handful of states (including California and Oregon) and localities (including New York City) that are assisting undocumented residents with economic relief.
Meanwhile, Democrats have continued to press Republicans to include undocumented workers in pandemic relief, telling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this month that “[w]e have seen millions of immigrants risking their health during the pandemic to protect the health and safety of other Americans, including as health care workers, farmworkers, grocery store clerks, and other essential, frontline workers.”