The COVID-19 pandemic has created a public health and economic crisis in Connecticut. Low-wage and immigrant workers are among the most vulnerable, particularly immigrants without authorized federal immigration status. Connecticut is home to around 100,000 undocumented immigrant workers. Tens of thousands of U.S. citizen children in Connecticut have an undocumented parent. Undocumented workers pay about $400 million in state and local taxes annually.  Yet they are currently left out of every relief program.

Undocumented workers are disproportionately likely to own small businesses and to work in the sectors that have been hardest hit by coronavirus-related closures. However, workers without federal immigration status – and their US citizen families -- are largely excluded from the programs that are supposed to help workers who lose their jobs or have their work hours cut. This includes the federal stimulus payments, state unemployment benefits and federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and most temporary leave and disability payments.

In order to address our current economic crisis and effectively spur demand in our local communities, it is critical that Connecticut provide safety net support to all individuals, regardless of federal immigration status. Thousands of undocumented workers across Connecticut have lost their jobs and have no income to rely on or income support. Still, tens of thousands more continue to work in frontline work without access to health care or income support, although they are doing the very work that allows Connecticut residents to stay safe at home.

We ask that you support taxpaying Connecticut residents who have been excluded from federal disaster assistance by creating either:  1) A temporary wage replacement program for workers who paid into the system through an ITIN number, but are ineligible for federal funds due to their immigration status, to be administered by the Department of Labor; or  2) A disaster relief fund for state residents suffering economic harm but excluded from state and federal relief. Both the 9/11 fund and other disaster relief funds have included people regardless of their immigration status.

We, the undersigned, ask that you put at least $20 million towards this effort immediately, to help taxpaying Connecticut residents, otherwise excluded from federal relief, to survive this crisis.

350 CT
ACLU of Connecticut
ACLU People Power – New Britain
AFSCME Council 4
All Our Kin
American Federation of Teachers-CT
Apostle Immigrant Services
Brazilian Workers Center
Building One Community
Coalition of Residents and Immigrants in Solidarity
Collective for Resident Rights at Yale
Connecticut Bail Fund
Connecticut Citizen Action Group
Connecticut Employees Union Independent
Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance
Connecticut Immigrant & Refugee Coalition
Connecticut Independent Drivers Guild
Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
Connecticut Legal Services
Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund
Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible
Connecticut Students for A Dream
Connecticut Working Families Organization
Connecticut Worker Crisis Response
Embracing the Same Dream/Alcanzando el Mismo Sueño
Greater Hartford Legal Aid
Green Party of Connecticut
Hartford Deportation Defense
Immigration and Refugee Task Force – UU of New Haven
Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services
IRIS – Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services
IWW - CT
Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice, CT
Latino Advocacy Foundation of Fairfield County
Livingston, Adler, Pulda, Meiklejohn, and Kelly, PC
Make the Road Connecticut
Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society
Middlesex Immigrant Rights Alliance
Naugatuck Valley Proejct
National Domestic Worker Alliance
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference - CT
The Neighbor Fund
New Haven Legal Assistance
New Haven People’s Center
New Sanctuary CT
Party for Socialism and Liberation
People’s Medics of New Haven
Politica CT
SEIU Local 32BJ
SEIU 1199 NE
SEMILLA collective of New Haven
Shea law, Inc.
Social Justice Council of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Danbury
Social Justice Council of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Meriden
UAW Region 9A
Unidad Latina en Acción
United Action Connecticut
UNITE HERE, Local 33
UNITE HERE, Local 217
Uniting For a Safe Inclusive Community-Manchester
Universal Health Care Foundation of CT
Windham Immigrant Rights Coalition

State Representative Joe Aresimowicz
Speaker of the House
State Representative Matthew Ritter
House Majority Leader
State Representative Robyn Porter
State Representative Edwin Vargas
State Representative David Michel
State Representative Christine Palm
State Representative Quentin Phipps
State Representative Anthony Nolan
State Representative Julio Concepcion
State Representative Anne Hughes
State Representative Joshua Hall
State Representative David Arconti
State Representative Geoff Luxenberg
State Representative Brandon McGee
State Representative Susan Johnson
State Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan
State Representative Minnie Gonzalez
State Representative Henry Genga
State Representative Patricia Billie Miller
State Representative Jason Rojas
State Representative Juan Candelaria
State Representative Kevin Ryan
State Representative Patricia Wilson Pheanious
State Representative Lucy Dathan
State Representative Jack Hennessy
State Representative Josh Elliott
State Representative Tammy Exum
State Representative Dan Fox
State Representative Jillian Gilchrest
State Representative Gregg Haddad
State Representative Roland Lemar
State Representative Rick Lopes
State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey
State Representative Chris Rosario
State Representative Hilda Santiago
State Representative Brian Smith
State Representative Michael Winkler
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff
Senator John Fonfara
Senator Will Haskell
Senator Saud Anwar
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Senator Christine Cohen
Senator Derek Slap
Senator Mary Abrams
Senator Gary Winfield
Senator Marilyn Moore
Senator Mae Flexer
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Senator Steve Cassano
Senator Dennis Bradley