May 18, 2023
Last week was a very eventful week for migrant justice issues as Title 42 was lifted and replaced with an asylum ban and other failed policies. At the same time, CIPC sent 100 of our partners to the Capitol for this year’s Immigrant Day of Action—our first time in-person since 2019. It was a powerful day as advocates, activists, and community members came together from across the state to call for a more equitable and welcoming California. We met with representatives, celebrated our immigrant communities’ power, and advocated for critical campaigns, including Food4All, SafetyNet4All, Health4All, the HOME Act, and the HEAL Budget Proposal. Thank you to those who joined us in Sacramento and supported us from their home districts. Be sure to follow us on our socials for photos!
Also last week, Governor Newsom released the May Revision of his state budget proposal. California is facing a roughly $30 billion budget deficit this year. While the state is able to prepare for the deficit while avoiding cuts, it creates significant challenges for our campaigns.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, and we won’t let it stop us! California is set to become the 4th largest economy in the world, in large part thanks to immigrant labor. We cannot use the deficit as an excuse to delay food, health, and a safety net for all, especially when California spends over $70 billion a year in tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Investments to tackle inequity now will help us better prepare for whatever economic or environmental challenges may lie ahead. In short, we all deserve a budget that walks the talk of building a California for All, and we won’t stop until we get there.
Read below to see where our campaigns stand in the May Revise. The Governor and the Legislature will reach a final budget deal by June 15, so we need all of your support now to get us to the finish line
SafetyNet4All:
We are disheartened and disappointed that the Governor failed, once again, to include unemployment benefits for excluded immigrant workers in the May Revise. Recent storms have flooded huge areas of farmland across towns such as Planada and Pajaro, leaving entire communities of undocumented workers without work and without a safety net to fall back on due to their immigration status. A recent study from UC Merced Community and Labor Center found that 83% of households in Planada lost work, sustained property damage, or both, and of those who lost work, 57% did not have a single worker in the household eligible for Unemployment Insurance.
Climate change will only increase the frequency and intensity of disasters like these, which will increase the frequency of job loss, and will continue to put undocumented workers and the industries they work in at risk of losing livelihoods and income.
Meanwhile, unemployment benefits are the most effective economic stabilizer during times of economic downturn, and are key to keeping California’s workers in place and small businesses running. As crises continue, investing in state unemployment benefits for excluded workers is necessary to ensure the state’s economic resilience and equal protection for all workers.
Read the Safety Net for All Coalition’s statement, and sign up now to join the campaign.
Health and Safety for All Workers:
The Governor’s May Revision also failed to include funding to expand the Domestic Worker Rights Education and Outreach Program (DWEOP) for health and safety. The California Domestic Workers Coalition has been working for years to end the exclusion of domestic workers from Cal/OSHA, the state’s health and safety protections.
In California, there are over 300,000 domestic workers, 75 percent of whom are immigrant women of color, who have been historically excluded from the most basic labor protections. Our federal and state laws’ failure to recognize domestic work as real work has left domestic workers particularly vulnerable to workplace injuries and illness, with little to no recourse or rights to preventative measures. Whether you work in an office, a factory, or a home, all Californians deserve a healthy and safe workplace.
Follow the California Domestic Workers Coalition here to get involved in their campaign for health and safety for all workers.
Food4All:
The Governor’s May Revision proposes to move up the implementation date of the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) expansion for income-eligible individuals aged 55 years or older, regardless of their immigration status, from January 2027 to no later than October 2025. The announcement of an expedited CFAP implementation timeline is a testament to the tireless advocacy from the Food4All coalition and our partners across the state. While this adjustment to the implementation timeline is a welcome step in the right direction, immigrant communities across California are in urgent need of food assistance today. We urge the Governor to speed up the implementation process to better ensure that those who are in need of food assistance today can access it as soon as possible.
Additionally, we are disappointed to find that the Governor’s budget still excludes Californians age 54 and below from accessing food benefits due to their immigration status. Nearly half of undocumented immigrants in California and nearly 2 in 3 undocumented children are impacted by food insecurity. We urge the Governor to end the exclusion of all Californians from CFAP, regardless of age or immigration status, and include funding for a full CFAP expansion in the final June budget package. When all California residents can access food assistance if and when they need it, our state will be stronger and more resilient to economic downturns. No exceptions, no exclusions, no delays!
Check out our newly released data snapshot to learn more about the impact of food insecurity on immigrants in California.
Humanitarian Response at the Border:
The Governor’s May Revision includes a one-time $150 million allocation to the Rapid Response Fund for continued humanitarian efforts in partnership with local non-profit organizations to welcome individuals and families seeking asylum and humanitarian protection and support their safe passage in border communities in California. The state funding has allowed nonprofit and faith-based organizations in San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside counties to provide medical, shelter, legal, and social services to hundreds of thousands of individuals and families seeking humanitarian protection in the U.S. since 2019. With the recent lifting of Title 42, California’s border communities are in urgent need of adequate funding and resources to address the expected increase of individuals and families in need of support. We applaud the Governor’s proposed investment to support migrants seeking safe haven in our state, and urge him to continue to invest in humanitarian response in partnership with local nonprofits in border communities to welcome individuals and families with dignity in California.
You can read the Governor’s Proposed Budget HERE.