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AB 2271: Immigration Enforcement Emergency Fund

AB 2271: Immigration Enforcement Emergency Fund

Assembly Bill 2271, authored by Robert Garcia, would draw from the investment that immigrants have already made in the state of California and create the California Immigration Enforcement Emergency Relief Fund to provide temporary emergency financial assistance to qualified individuals and families who have lost income due to immigration enforcement activities.

For nearly 50 years, undocumented workers have contributed to the state’s unemployment insurance system despite being ineligible to receive benefits. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), in 2022 alone, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $8.5 billion in state and local taxes yet continue to have little to no access to many of the programs they help sustain.

The Trump administration’s aggressive and unconstitutional immigration enforcement actions have created an economic and public safety crisis in communities across California. Families have lost critical income due to the detention or deportation of a household member, as well as broader workplace and community disruptions stemming from federal enforcement activity. As a result, many are experiencing severe financial hardship without access to unemployment insurance or other safety-net programs, due to immigration status or eligibility rules that do not account for these sudden and extraordinary income losses.

This legislation represents a modest and equitable reinvestment in workers and families who have long contributed to California’s economy and our communities, ensuring that they are not left without support during times of crisis.

The state would create and administer the Immigration Enforcement Emergency Relief Fund and provide benefits directly to eligible individuals who apply. Eligibility would be based on experiencing a recent loss in income due to immigration enforcement activities, including from arrest, detention, removal, employer actions related to enforcement (including in response to no-match letters or I-9 audits), or missed work due to reasonable fear for personal safety related to enforcement activity at or near an individual’s workplace or residence. Qualifying individuals would receive payments of up to $450 per week for up to 20 weeks, depending on the amount and duration of income loss. For individuals who have been detained or removed, another household member could apply with eligibility based on the loss of income to the household.

Frequently Asked Questions

There are multiple pathways that eligibility for this fund can be determined. Applicants can provide documented detention status available through the Department of Homeland Security website. California is lucky to have a robust rapid response network, so another pathway an applicant could use would be to provide documentation from rapid response organizations verifying suspected or verified enforcement activities near the community the applicant lives and/or works in.

Available data indicate about 3,205 (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, n.d.) Californians were arrested in June at the peak of enforcement, while by July as many as 157,595 undocumented workers had likely lost work as a result of the economic impacts of these activities. A one-time appropriation of $500 million would provide benefit and administration costs for 47,222 (for 20 weeks) and 188,889 (5 weeks) individuals, meeting a significant portion of this need.

There are just over 1 million undocumented workers in California. This program would also have an impact on the family members and relatives of undocumented workers. For example, we know that 20% of all Californians under the age of 18 live with an undocumented family member or are undocumented themselves.
Yes. People who are undocumented comprise approximately 1 in 17 workers in California, and many work in front-line jobs that are precarious, pay low wages, and lack strong worker protections. Undocumented immigrant workers also contribute roughly $3.7 billion every year in state and local taxes. Further, California employers contribute an estimated $485 million to the Unemployment Insurance fund on behalf of undocumented workers annually–even though those very workers don’t see a cent of the benefits–reducing California’s general fund obligation to unemployment.

Yes, other states and jurisdictions have implemented programs to provide similar benefits to undocumented workers that have successfully addressed fraud, respected people’s privacy, and maximized access.

New York is the largest, with a $2.1B investment in an Excluded Workers Fund that provided unemployment payments to workers who lost income during the pandemic but were not eligible for unemployment insurance. Eligible workers were able to receive a one-time payment of up to $15,600. An evaluation of the program found that the Excluded Worker Program was used to pay back rent, pay for food, and support an individual’s economic advancement and wellbeing. It also led to an increase in volunteer work, workplace improvements, and ITIN and driver’s license applications. New York’s Excluded Workers Fund is a model for other states to efficiently and safely deliver cash payments to a vulnerable group with heightened privacy concerns.

In 2022, Colorado passed into law the nation’s first permanent unemployment insurance benefit program for undocumented workers, and workers will begin to receive payments starting in 2023. There have also been other programs that provided different types of relief or cash assistance to undocumented immigrants in states such as WA, NJ, NM, OR, IA, and VT.

Even in California, local jurisdictions, like the County of Merced, have adopted wage replacement benefit programs for workers excluded from federal benefits after natural disasters–in addition to the statewide effort to get “Golden State Rebate” dollars to undocumented immigrants who had an ITIN during the COVID-19 pandemic. These programs are feasible and becoming increasingly prevalent.

Income replacement benefits can have a very similar impact to unemployment benefits. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), unemployment benefits not only help alleviate temporary economic hardship for workers and their families but also bolster the state economy during economic downturns. In fact, multiple academic studies have demonstrated that every dollar of Unemployment Insurance generates between $1.60 to $2.00 for the local economy, more than any other benefit program. Unemployment benefits help prevent the sort of desperation among job seekers that allows unscrupulous employers to commit wage theft and perpetuate other forms of harassment or mistreatment on the job. Additionally, they support industries and the economy by ensuring that those who lose work can continue spending money on essential goods, which helps to stimulate local businesses and facilitates a quicker return to work once jobs become available.

SUPPORT:

CONTACT:

Katherine Valenzuela
Coalition Lobbyist
KBVale@gmail.com
Info@CNIWJ.org