Since last fall, agricultural workers in California's Central Valley have had less work due to prolonged rain storms and the resulting flooding.
But undocumented immigrants are ineligible for unemployment insurance, disaster relief and many other safety net services. That’s left many farmworkers — like Mariano Carranza, an undocumented immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico who has lived in Fresno for more than 20 years — struggling to pay for groceries, rent and other bills.
“Sometimes we rely on our savings and use them all to get by,” Carranza said in Spanish during a meeting last Friday at Fresno City Hall.
Now, farmworkers and immigrants’ advocates are calling on state leaders to expand the social safety net so undocumented Californians can qualify for assistance.
They are rallying in support of a bill introduced by Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, known as the Excluded Workers Program, which would allow undocumented workers to receive unemployment benefits for two years.
Gov. Newsom vetoed a similar proposal last year, citing the multi-million-dollar cost to update the Employment Development Department’s information technology systems.
Approximately 1.1 million workers in California are undocumented, and collectively they contribute $3.7 billion in state and local tax revenues, reported UC Merced’s Community and Labor Center.
“Our community is affected by not having access to unemployment benefits,” Armando Celestino, Triqui interpreter with the Centro Binacional para el Desarollo Indígena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO), or the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities, said in Spanish. “We want this to change.”
Bills aim to extend safety net to undocumented Californians
Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, introduced the Excluded Workers Pilot Program last year. Under the program, undocumented workers who had lost their job or had their work hours reduced could receive up to $300 a week for 20 weeks.
Proponents say such a program is even more critical this year. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the years-long drought followed by severe rains and flooding, they say, has underscored the vulnerability of the men and women who harvest the country’s fruits and vegetables.
Under Durazo’s proposal, the Excluded Workers Program would run for two years — from 2025 to 2027 — and be administered by the Employment Development Department. It would provide undocumented workers with $300 weekly for up to 20 weeks of unemployment.
The bill is opposed by the California Taxpayers Association, which argued that the state’s unemployment system “does not have the financial ability to sustain any added benefits at this time,” according to an analysis by the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement.
The Excluded Workers Program is among the Latino Legislative Caucus’ priorities for this year. The caucus is also prioritizing efforts to extend health and food benefits to undocumented Californians.
While these proposals wind through the legislature, Newsom’s office says it is taking other steps to support undocumented workers and communities.
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is “mobilizing existing funds,” from the Rapid Response Fund to provide disaster relief to immigrant Californias regardless of their documentation status, according to the governor’s office.
“These efforts also include ensuring mixed-status families are accessing federal and state resources that they may be eligible for,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
Lawmaker pledges support for unemployment proposal
State legislators, community advocates and farmworkers gathered at Fresno City Hall last Friday to advocate for the need for safety net benefits for all Californians.
Carranza said undocumented workers’ labor contributes to the state’s economy, so the state and local governments should do more to support workers in return.
“Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme heat or cold, we farmworkers are always there on the frontline,” he said in Spanish. “We don’t back down, and we don’t give up.”
Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, attended the event and vowed to ensure the Excluded Workers Program becomes law.
“I look forward to the fight ahead where we are going to both pass SB 227 and also get it funded,” he said.
Representatives from Lideres Campesinas, Central California Environmental Justice Network and other organizations also pledged to support the Excluded Workers Program.
Oralia Maceda, CBDIO’s program director, said the continuing call to extend safety net benefits to undocumented workers isn’t “a favor” advocates are asking for.
“It’s a human right,” Maceda said in Spanish. “It’s a human right for all people to have a place to live and food on the table.”
CBDIO and organizations across the state that are part of the SafetyNet4All Coalition, which advocates for immigrant families’ rights, will gather at the State Capitol in Sacramento on April 13 to call for unemployment benefits and other safety net services for undocumented immigrants.
