Dear Governor Newsom, 

We, the undersigned 40 leaders from immigrant, economic, social and environmental justice  organizations across the state of California, urge you to create a state program to provide  critical unemployment benefits to workers in California who are ineligible to receive  Unemployment Insurance due to their immigration status. Climate-induced disasters continue  to threaten and disproportionately impact low-income immigrant communities. For all Californians  to be resilient and protected from future extreme weather events, the state should expand access  to unemployment benefits and build a long-term infrastructure to distribute support to the  community, rather than rely on piecemeal, one-time relief. 

In January, severe storms flooded the entire town of Planada. Less than three months later, the  town of Pajaro is facing the same devastation. Residents of both towns are primarily low-income,  and many are undocumented. Their homes, crops, and jobs are gone, and may not be restored  for weeks, months, or longer. They have been left with little to no recourse to shoulder the  economic impacts of these climate-induced disasters, which are becoming more frequent and  severe. Without access to unemployment benefits, disasters force them to exhaust any savings  they may have, accumulate debt, and struggle to afford food and housing.  

The need for change is not limited to workers in these towns. Ruined crops do not only affect  farmworkers, but workers in industries across California that are interconnected to our agricultural  production, such as trucking, warehousing, retail, and manufacturing.  

Nor are the crises in California’s immigrant communities today natural, but a result of decades of  policymaking that have both targeted and marginalized undocumented migrant workers, making  them more vulnerable to the state’s propensity for major public disasters. 

And while California winter storms are at the forefront today, these events are part of a much  deeper problem. Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classified the  risk of the impact of natural disasters on communities as at least “relatively moderate” in fifty-two  of the state’s fifty-eight counties.1 No other state in the nation experiences such widespread and  elevated risk across its counties.  

History has shown us that California undocumented immigrant workers live in some of the hardest  hit communities, and that a long-term solution is needed immediately. In the past three years, the  state has experienced a global pandemic, record heat, drought, catastrophic wildfires, and floods,  and yet the historical record demonstrates remarkable predictability of these events. Instead of  relying solely on disaster relief as a stop-gap measure, California should invest in infrastructure  to better support families, communities, and industries to withstand the long-standing issues with,  and the accelerating prevalence of, economic and environmental volatility.  

Unemployment benefits are a lifeline for California’s families, communities and industries  during major public disasters. According to the LAO, unemployment benefits not only help  alleviate temporary economic hardship for workers and their families, but also bolster the state  economy during economic downturns.2 Unemployment benefits also 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.3 Moreover, they support  industries and the economy by making sure that those who lose work can keep spending money  with local businesses and can get back to work once a job becomes available.4 

California already benefits greatly from contributions made by undocumented workers,  who contribute 3.7 billion dollars in state and local taxes annually. California employers  contribute 485 million dollars to the UI system on behalf of undocumented workers’ labor, even  though these workers don’t see a cent of the benefits.5 It is past time for the state to acknowledge  their centrality to the economy by creating a benefit that serves them in times of crisis. 

Unemployment benefits are needed now to prepare for a volatile future. Unemployment  benefits for undocumented workers would ensure that California’s most marginalized workers,  including farmworkers in Planada and Pajaro, have a financial safety net in the face of  environmental and economic disasters. We cannot keep scrambling for resources every time  undocumented immigrant workers are at the forefront of disaster. We strongly urge you to  include unemployment benefits for undocumented workers in the 2023-2024 state budget.  We respectfully ask for you to meet with Coalition members in person in the coming weeks  to discuss this critical program. It is the equitable and inclusive approach we need for current  community members and for future generations. 

Sincerely, 

Carlos Amador, Coalition Director, Safety Net for All Coalition

Alejo, Executive Director, Trabajadores Unidos Workers United

Sheheryar Y. Kaoosji, Executive Director, Warehouse Workers Resource Center

Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

Cynthia Buiza, Executive Director, California Immigrant Policy Center 

Salvador Sarmiento, Campaign Director, National Day Labor Organizing Network

Javier Hernandez, Executive Director, Inland Coalition for  Immigrant Justice

Sarait Martinez, Ed.D., Executive Director, Centro Binacional para el  Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño

Andrea Gonzalez, Organizing Director, CLEAN Carwash Center

Lucas Zucker, Co-Executive Director, Central Coastal  Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy

Tia Orr, Executive Director, SEIU California

Hazel Davalos, Co-Executive Director,Central Coastal  Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy

Devon Gray, President, End Poverty in California  

Diego Cartagena, Esq., President & CEO, Bet Tzedek  

Vanessa Terán, Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing  Project 

Eder Gaona-Macedo, MPA, Executive Director, 805UndocuFund 

Daniela Urban, Executive Director, Center for Workers'  Rights

Ana Rosa Centino, Network Manager, Central Coast Climate  Justice Network

Armando Gudino, Executive Director, Los Angeles Worker  Center Network 

Max Bell Alper, Director, North Bay Jobs with Justice

Maria Cadenas, MBA, Executive Director, Ventures

Victor Narro, Project Director, UCLA Labor Center

Alexandra Morales, Director of Organizing, Policy, and Advocacy, Central American Resource Center

Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA

Jenna Gerry, Senior Staff Attorney, National Employment  Law Project

Tanya Broder, Senior Staff Attorney, National Immigration  Law Center 

Najayara Valdovinos Soto, Executive Director, Inland Empire Immigrant  Youth Collective 

Tanya Broder, Senior Staff Attorney, National Immigration  Law Center 

Fanelly Millan, Inland Empire Organizer, Pomona Economic  Opportunity Center  

Kim Ouillette, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid at Work 

Karín Umfrey, Senior Staff Attorney, Worksafe

Maria Elena de la Garza, Executive Director, Community Action Board  of Santa Cruz County 

Anna Hasselblad, Director of Public Policy, United Ways of  California

Luz Gallegos, Executive Director, TODEC Legal Center

Kevan Andrea Insko, Director, Friends Committee on Legislation of California

Becky Silva, Director of Government Relations, CA, Association of Food Banks

Erik Garcia, Organizing and Program Manager, Long, Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition

Jesus Martinez, Ph.D., Executive Director, Central Valley Immigrant, Integration Collaborative

Mary Igantius, Statewide Organizer, Parent Voices

Joseph Tomás Mckellar, Executive Director, PICO California

Christopher Sanchez, Policy Advocate, Western Center on Law and Poverty

1 UC Merced Community and Labor Center, March 2022, “Essential Fairness: The Case for Unemployment Benefits for California’s Undocumented Immigrant Workers,” https://clc.ucmerced.edu/sites/clc.ucmerced.edu/files/documents/essential-fairness.pdf

2 Legislative Analyst’s Office, September 28, 2022, “LAO Report Overview: California’s Unemployment Insurance Program,” https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/state_admin/2022/UI-Report-Overview-092822.pdf

3 David Dyssegaard Kallick, Andrew Stettner, Ashleigh-Ann Sutherland, and Samantha Wing, September 7, 2022, “Providing Unemployment Insurance to Immigrants and Other Excluded Workers: A State Roadmap for Inclusive Benefits,” https://tcf.org/content/report/providing-unemployment-insurance-to-immigrants-and-other-excluded-workers-a-state-roadmap-for-inclusive-benefits/

4 Alissa Anderson, August 2021, “Q&A: Unemployment Insurance, Labor Day Cliff & the Costs of Unemployment,” https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/qa-unemployment-insurance-labor-day-cliff-the-costs-of-unemployment/

5 UC Merced Community and Labor Center, December 2022, “Worker Relief: Expanding the Safety Net to Excluded Workers,” https://clc.ucmerced.edu/sites/clc.ucmerced.edu/files/page/documents/worker_relief_2022_1.pdf