California is releasing a $125 m disaster relief fund for undocumented immigrants, the very first of its kind in the country, California guv Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
Undocumented immigrants comprise 10%of California’s labor force, Newsom said, however are ineligible for joblessness insurance coverage, pandemic unemployment assistance and federal stimulus support.
” Despite your status, documented or undocumented, there are individuals in need,” Newsom stated. “And this is a state that steps up, constantly to support those in need, regardless of status.”
The guv noted that there was an overrepresentation of the undocumented labor force in important services, “in the healthcare sector, in the agriculture and food sector, in the production and logistics sector, and in the construction sector.”
” We feel a deep sense of appreciation for people that are in fear of deportation but are still attending to the important needs of tens of millions of Californians,” he stated.
More than 2 million undocumented immigrants live in California, making up 6%of the state’s general population.
California contributed $75 m of the $125 m catastrophe relief fund for undocumented immigrants, with humanitarian groups such as the Emerson Collective, the Chan Zuckerberg Effort, the James Irvine Foundation, Blue Shield of California Structure and the California Endowment supplying the additional $50 m.
The quantity should enable $500 to $1,000 in household help, which guv Gavin Newsom acknowledged barely scratched the surface in a state with as high a cost of living as California. “I’m not here to suggest that $125 m suffices, however I am here to recommend that it’s an excellent start and I am very proud that it is starting here in the state of California,” he said.
” I acknowledge that we still have more to do in this area,” Newsom said. “We will venture to find more locations of assistance in the next days and weeks and over the next year as we shift back to some version of normalcy.”
The relief fund comes as the variety of Californians filing for joblessness insurance tops 2.7 million, Newsom stated. The need for unemployment support has increased to a point that the guv signed an executive order launching a new call center to run 12 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with the influx.
Newsom’s statement was met with both applause and reaction, with conservative political analyst Tomi Lahren calling the “fund for illegals” “astounding”.
Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist and founder of Specify American, a not-for-profit that advocates for precise representation of immigrants in the media, tweeted that other guvs, especially New York guv Andrew Cuomo, should keep in mind.
” As an undocumented immigrant who was raised in California and call the Bay Area my house, thank you,” Vargas composed to Newsom. “Thank you for bearing in mind that undocumented Californians are an inextricable part of our state.”
There were 24,421 favorable cases reported in California on Wednesday, with 821 deaths. On Tuesday, Newsom cautiously outlined the state’s next steps, stating that there was no particular timeline for when he will customize the stay-at-home order.
