The leader of the Coalition for Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Angélica Salas asked those affected by the coronavirus not to give up and continue to call non-profit organizations every day to request the help of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRAI) established by the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
Revealed that This same week they will begin to send financial assistance by mail to the first beneficiaries.
"In some cases when people are already elderly or have a disability, we will personally bring them their debit card."
In April, Governor Newsom announced the Immigrant Disaster Relief Fund to support 150,000 immigrants affected by the COVID-19 epidemic with $ 75 million. Monday, May 18, was the official marked day for twelve selected nonprofits in the state to begin calling to deliver aid of $ 500 and up to $ 1,000 per household. However, many immigrants were frustrated when their calls were unable to come in during the first two days of the program's start.
In interview with The opinion, Angelica asked to take into account that the money given by the state will not be enough for everyone to qualify. "This is part of a first step in a bigger fight to get more help, and also to channel our people to receive unemployment and access to food stamps."
He recalled that the 75 million for the Undocumented will adjust only for 150 thousand immigrants, which constitute 6% of the entire undocumented population.
In two days, three organizations for Los Angeles and Orange counties, CHIRLA, CARECEN, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice have helped 3,164 people, making a total of $ 1,582,000.
To give us an idea of the impact, Angélica commented that the Angelino card – an initiative of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to help immigrants alleviate the economic difficulties of COVID-19 with $ 700 and up to $ 1,500 per household – helped only 4,000 in a month. "
What are you doing to streamline the application process?
“We have been cutting time on the phone. Before, our operators spoke 20 minutes with each applicant. Now we have asked them to stay for less time in order to serve more people, ”he explained.
In the case of CHIRLA they have 30 operators on the phones. "Today we are going to increase the number."
Furthermore, he revealed that they work with the telephone company to make communication more efficient.
Among the three organizations, CHIRLA, CARECEN and Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the goal is to support 40,000 people.. But Angélica said that they will not look good because there are more than a million undocumented people. "What should be clear is that we fight for this program, we want it to work and be renewed because it is not enough."
The leader said that she understands the disagreement because the phone calls have not been able to come in. "We are going to receive a lot of criticism, but we understand it because people don't have to eat, but I want them to know that we are working with everything to help them."
He assured that there are no preferences for anyone in the delivery of aid. "We are supporting all the people, but it is chance that decides which call comes in."
And he emphasized that this is the first aid program for the undocumented in the country, which they hope will be replicated in other states.
"It is important that people know that we fight for it. It is not something that came alone but it happened because we sued the state government, and we are organizations that have fought for immigrants for years ”.
He called on immigrants not to be discouraged if their phone calls don't go through the first few days. "We are going to streamline more, considering the need."
Angélica assured that they were prepared to meet the great demand, but reiterated that technology and logistics are not going to fill the need for financial assistance for millions of people.
He specified that part of the design they work under came from the state of California. "They must also understand that we are experiencing a pandemic in which Latinos have the highest incidence of contagion and are dying."
Due to COVID-19 they cannot have too many staff in the offices, and many of the operators work from home. "If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, things would be very different. We would have immigrants lining up around CHIRLA. "
