New York Lawmakers Weigh $500 Million Fund For Unemployed Migrants

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A Democratic proposal is being considered by New York lawmakers that would create a fund to provide unemployment benefits for undocumented immigrants.

The would create a $500 million trust fund to pay jobless benefits for workers ineligible for traditional unemployment payments and other public benefits.

"To pay for it, backers of the plan have proposed a new tax on Google, Amazon and other 'big tech' companies that would charge them a fee for digital advertising, which supporters say would drum up hundreds of millions of dollars for the fund."

Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate's powerful Labor Committee argues that migrants are authorized to work, pay taxes and contribute to the state's economy but can't get unemployment benefits if they are let go by their employer.

A summary of the bill said the fund would be available to undocumented workers but also "domestic workers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, day laborers and domestic construction workers who are paid off the hooks; street vendors, freelancers, self-employed workers: and workers recently released from incarceration or immigrant detention who cannot use their prison or detention labor to qualify for unemployment benefits."

"The new fund establishes in-depth requirements and procedures making it possible for members of these communities to apply and receive benefits for their ongoing unemployment," the summary reads.

New York policymakers have wrangled for years over jobless benefits for undocumented immigrants, nontraditional workers and others who don't qualify for state unemployment benefits.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York lawmakers approved a $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund to provide support for jobless workers who were excluded from unemployment benefits, including undocumented adults and those with "gig" economy jobs. But money from that fund has dried up, lawmakers say.

New York lawmakers weigh $500 million fund for unemployed migrants

(The Center Square) — New York lawmakers are considering a Democratic proposal that would create a new multibillion-dollar fund to provide unemployment benefits for undocumented immigrants.

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