In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Felix Gallardo still left her Passaic apartment every day to head to her job at a local warehouse. Once she started coming down with covid-like symptoms, the single mother said she had to quit her job, which didn’t offer sick leave. She can’t collect unemployment and isn’t eligible for the federal stimulus check because of her immigration status.
Gallardo and more than 500,000 other undocumented immigrants, some legally residing in New Jersey, comprise the vulnerable community being crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, exacerbated by inequities and barriers, according to a new report released Thursday.
Make the Road NJ released the “Essential and Excluded” report, which compiled more than 200 surveys with undocumented and legally-residing immigrants. The group, which advocates for immigrant communities and Latino workers, called on Gov. Phil Murphy to take aggressive steps to protect undocumented individuals and their children, who are often American citizens.
“Under COVID-19, immigrant communities have experienced extreme harm. Undocumented immigrants are disproportionately likely to own small businesses and to work in the sectors that have been hardest hit by coronavirus-related closures, such as food service and construction and those where workers continue frontline work such as warehouses, janitorial and agriculture,” the report says.
The report shows immigrants, who are being disproportionately infected with COVID-19, are taking the brunt of the physical and economic impact of coronavirus,.
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About 75% of respondents said they have no health insurance, more than 90% fear they can’t pay their bills and none of the respondents qualify for stimulus payments or unemployment benefits, the report shows.
“Immigrants are being posed with a really difficult choice, going to work in potentially very unsafe conditions where social distancing isn’t respected … or stay home and not have any income and not be able to pay rent, food or medicine,” said Sara Cullinane, Director of Make the Road New Jersey.
“It’s a very difficult choice and it’s made much worse by the state and federal government not offering aid to undocumented workers and their U.S. citizen children.”
The group is asking authorities to take aggressive steps to help immigrant communities, including increasing the federal stimulus check to $2,000 a month, give $600 a week to those who lost their jobs but are ineligible for unemployment benefits and sign an executive order halting detention and deportation of unauthorized residents.
Murphy said he’s open to the idea of $600 but would not commit to it during Thursday’s daily press briefing, and said he had not seen the report.
He also urged anyone without access to healthcare, including undocumented residents, to contact the state.
But even if they can access health insurance, undocumented immigrants can be fearful of hospitals reporting them to ICE and other authorities, said Cullinane, pointing to other barriers these groups are facing.
“We are not only living with the threat of contracting coronavirus,” an anonymous survey respondent said. “We are also living with the fear that if we lose our jobs, we will lose our health insurance. And because we are immigrants, we can’t get public insurance. I’m worried for my safety and my family’s safety.”
Drive through testing does not require a copay, but many undocumented immigrants don’t have cars, Cullinane added. Emergency room visits might be covered depending on the hospital, but treatment is an out-of-pocket cost.
And many immigrants are essential workers, who have no choice but to go to work, Cullinane said, calling on those companies to implement strict policies to protect its workers.
“If the state wants to take flattening the curve seriously, everyone has to have the same opportunities to be able to stay home, have health care and work in safe conditions,” Cullinane said. “So it’s a priority for public health for everyone, immigrant communities and public safety in general.”
Some other states are already stepping up for immigrants: California Gov. Gavin Newsom said some undocumented immigrants in the state can draw on a $125 million public-private fund, and Minneapolis is offering $5 million to tenants and small businesses, regardless of immigration status.
The financial hardship has been felt around the state, which has seen more than 850,000 residents file for unemployment since mid-March. As of Thursday, there have been 99,898 confirmed cases in New Jersey, including more than 5,000 deaths.
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Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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