Immigration Weekly Round-Up: Undocumented Immigrants in N.J. Lose Access to Pandemic Funds; N.Y. Sees Reduction in Immigration; EB-5 Project Threatened Over Investment Refunds
Friday, January 21, 2022
Outrage Following Reallocation of Millions in the Excluded N.J. Funds
In a move that has left many immigrants and immigration advocates stunned and angry, New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, has reallocated approximately $34 million of the $50 million from the federally-funded Excluded New Jerseyans Fund – which is dedicated to providing pandemic assistance to those who were exempted from the initial stimulus checks, including thousands of undocumented immigrants – to pay for other state expenses, such as payroll and various department costs due to COVID-19.
Immigration advocacy groups, such as the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ) and Casa Freehold, decried the decision. Both groups said that the application process for immigrants to apply for these relief funds was difficult and set to fail at the start. “People feel like they have lost their trust in the state’s ability to really listen to the community and provide responsive programs,” said Amy Torres, executive director for NJAIJ. Immigrant advocates said the difficult and confusing application process for the funds discouraged many people who would have qualified for the assistance from filing an application, and that other states were far more effective in distributing the funds to those for whom it was intended.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/immigration-weekly-round-undocumented-immigrants-nj-lose-access-to-pandemic-funds-ny
