Job Loss Help for the Undocumented

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Many undocumented workers in New Mexico are considered "essential" as they clean, farm, work in restaurants and grocery stores and keep the economy running in a myriad of ways. But when they lose their jobs or take pay cuts as COVID-19 cases continue to ramp up, they are also ineligible for any money from the recent federal $2 trillion stimulus package or state unemployment.

New Mexico Dream Team, a statewide organization for undocumented and mixed-status families, started a fundraising campaign this week with a goal of $50,000 to go directly to families who are not eligible for aid from the government because of their immigration status.

Eduardo Esquivel, Dream Team statewide program manager and fundraiser leader, 25, tells SFR he started raising money for undocumented people because of his own family's struggles as COVID-19 impacts their lives.

"I'm in the process of adjusting my status but this has put a lot of uncertainty on that," Esquivel tells SFR. "My dad is considered an essential worker so he's out there working every day…He's a business owner. He has double the risk and he's not going to receive any sort of help from the government. We have to act and start collecting some funds any way we can to help."

Money will be doled out starting when the fundraiser reaches about $10,000 and a Dream Team board will decide who gets the money for necessities such as food and rent, according to Esquivel.

While this cash will help families who don't qualify for the $1,200 checks promised by the federal government to documented Americans, there are still many challenges ahead for mixed-status and undocumented people who this money won't help. Undocumented immigrants typically do not have health insurance, even in better times, and are often far from family and friends who could help if they get sick.

"I know what it's like to be undocumented," says Victor Romero, 20, a former Capital High School student and a current student at the University of New Mexico. "People, regardless of immigration status, are people. And people should come first, always. Immigrant people provide a lot for this country. We help build the economy, we do the kinds of jobs a lot of people don't want to do."

Those behind bars are also especially susceptible to COVID-19 while forced into close quarters with each other.

On Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during her public address that the state Department of Corrections plans to release inmates about 30 days before their planned release and is continuing to review other ideas to lower the incarcerated population "without minimizing public safety."

That means nothing for people suspected of federal immigration crimes. Lujan Grisham's executive order on the release of inmates only has bearing on those in the state and local criminal justice systems.

Also on Friday afternoon, around a dozen protesters in cars drove in a caravan from Trader Joe's to the governor's mansion with signs advocating for the release of nonviolent offenders from prison.

"The most vulnerable populations are immigrant detainees and prisoners, squished together, no possibility of social distancing," says Francine Foster, Santa Fe, standing just outside of the gate surrounding the governor's mansion. "Low level prisoners should be let out and immigrant detainees should be let out."

Donate to the New Mexico Dream Team fundraiser here.

Leér información importante en Español sobre COVID-19 aquí.