NM ECONOMIC RELIEF WORKING GROUP RESPONDS TO PASSAGE OF FEDERAL CORONAVIRUS RELIEF BILL

Many New Mexicans Still Excluded from Relief

December 22, 2020

New Mexico- Late Monday U.S.Congress passed a $900 billion Coronavirus relief package to help families that continue to struggle financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill will allow for some mixed status immigrant families excluded in the spring to be eligible to receive up to a $600 stimulus rebate per adult and child. Yet many immigrant workers without Social Security numbers and their children will remain ineligible.

According to a report by New Mexico Voices for Children Essential but Excluded, more than 30,000 New Mexico adults without a Social Security number and more than 38,000 New Mexican children with an undocumented parent did not benefit from a federal stimulus check, and will unlikely benefit from the new relief legislation. Thousands more will not qualify for unemployment benefits. These exclusions came at a high economic loss of millions of dollars in federal relief payments for those families, the state, and local economies.

Recognizing that efforts to promote public health and economic recovery must include all essential workers and their families in New Mexico, local and state officials had to step in when the federal government excluded immigrant taxpayers. Local and state jurisdictions implemented cash assistance programs totaling $13.5 million dollars--$7 million administered by the Human Services Department, $2.6 million by the City of Santa Fe, $2.5 million by City of Albuquerque, and $1.5 million to be disbursed in Bernalillo County--reaching over 18,000 New Mexicans ineligible for federal stimulus rebates and/or unemployment.

The following is a statement from the New Mexico Economic Relief Working Group made up of five New Mexico immigrant and child advocacy organizations:

“The immigrant’s rights movement has fought tirelessly over the past nine months for the most inclusive relief package possible. While the coronavirus relief compromise incorporates some mixed-status immigrant families, tens of thousands of New Mexican taxpayers will still be left out of the stimulus rebates and unemployment, including frontline essential workers who have kept our nation functioning during the pandemic.

The Biden/Harris administration and Congress should include all tax filers, regardless of immigration status, in future relief programs, as well as additional support for cities, counties and states working tirelessly to keep our communities safe.

New Mexico’s elected leaders also need to continue to bolster local and state relief programs for vulnerable families that are falling through the cracks and experiencing extreme financial hardships. Putting money in the hands of families who will spend it quickly and locally is the most important step to supporting our families and ensuring a robust recovery.

We look forward to working with a new administration and New Mexico’s congressional delegation to advocate so all New Mexicans can be included in federal economic relief efforts. We will also continue to work with local governments to fill the gap. ”

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The Economic Relief Working Group is made up of five New Mexico immigrant advocacy organizations--New Mexico Voices for Children, El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derecho, Partnership for Community Action, Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (NM CAFé) and Somos Un Pueblo Unido--working collectively to research, design and implement government-sponsored emergency assistance programs for New Mexicans ineligible for traditional COVID-19 relief programs.