When New York decided to make $2.1 billion available to undocumented workers who were shut out of unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, a flood of applicants quickly claimed the grants and cleaned the program out.

Now, some advocates are hoping to make things a little more permanent.

A coalition of undocumented workers, advocacy organizations and Democratic state legislators are pushing for a $3 billion boost to the state’s Excluded Workers Fund, which the state Legislature and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo created in April as a way to provide a one-time lifeline to those ineligible for the federal safety net.

But they’re also pushing for a permanent solution going forward: making unemployment benefits available to tens of thousands of workers who otherwise don’t qualify because of their immigration status.

“COVID-19 has shown us that in our economy, we are leaving people behind in terms of a safety net for unemployment,” said Assemblymember Karines Reyes, D-Bronx. “And we saw that with the excluded workers.”

New York began accepting applicants for Excluded Workers Fund grants in August, and it quickly proved popular.

The program was designed to provide up to $15,600 to people who were otherwise shut out of pandemic relief, largely because of their immigration status.

Within a month, the state Department of Labor had already received more than 900,000 applications and allocated more than $850 million of the funding. After two months, the agency stopped accepting new applications because the fund was nearing exhaustion.

By Dec. 6th, the entire $2.1 billion fund had been allocated, according to the state.

To qualify for the grants, an applicant had to be a New York resident who was living in the state prior to the first COVID case in March 2020. The person had to have made less than $26,208 in the year leading up to April 2021 and lost at least half their weekly earnings since February 2020.

And, most importantly, the grants were only made available to those who didn’t qualify for unemployment insurance benefits or other federal pandemic relief.

Reyes was among those who spoke at a Dec. 16th news conference via Zoom to launch the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition.

The coalition supports a new state-level program that would provide benefits to undocumented workers that would mimic the existing unemployment insurance program, which is not open to those without legal immigration status.

Under the coalition’s proposal, those who lose their job and were making less than the state’s median individual earnings – or less than 80% of that amount, depending on the category of worker – would be eligible for a flat monthly payment equal to the average state unemployment benefit.

As of now, that would work out to about $1,200 a month, according to the coalition.

Workers would be required to present documentation proving their work status and residency that mirrors what’s required of the Excluded Workers Fund, such as correspondence from their employer and a self-attestation form.

If approved, the coalition estimates 50,000 people a month would make use of the program at a cost to the state of $800 million in the first year.

“The pandemic is evolving,” said Bianca Guerrero, coordinator of the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition. “And we also know that unemployment is not just a crisis thing. Unemployment is a reality of workers’ lives and existed before COVID and will exist after.”

The push for a more permanent solution is sure to receive pushback from Republicans in Albany, who have expressed concern about the potential for fraud.

In November, the Times Union of Albany reported the state Inspector General’s Office is investigating an apparent widespread scheme to cheat on the state’s online test for driver’s permits.

The apparent scheme helped allow some undocumented immigrants to obtain driving credentials, which they could in theory use to help establish residency for the Excluded Workers Fund, according to the newspaper.

State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Republican from western New York, said he believes it was always Democratic lawmakers’ goal to make the fund permanent.

“With crime off the charts, prices on everyday items through the roof, and more and more New Yorkers packing up for good, it’s time for common sense – not on more handouts,” Ortt said in a statement.