They try unsuccessfully to communicate to organizations that are going to hand over the $ 500 to Governor Gavin Newsom
Thousands of undocumented immigrants affected by COVID-19 were frustrated that they were never able to contact Los Angeles nonprofits by phone to request the $ 500 state check from the Immigrant Disaster Relief Fund (DRAI) established by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Aid requests began on Monday, May 18, but a large majority were unable to get a response.
Many immigrants who contacted The opinion, reported that on the phones of the Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants (CHIRLA) they never answered; and in CARECEN, they did answer them, but they put them on waiting lines, and after hours of being on the phone waiting to speak to someone, the calls were cut.
Unable to hold back tears, Alex Argueta, who 13 years ago left El Salvador in search of a better life, says that he and his 17-year-old son spent the day trying to call CHIRLA and CARECEN.
Desperate, we went to the CHIRLA offices. There were about 25 people outside, trying to get an answer from us. A security officer told us that the offices were closed and that we will telephone. When we told him that the CHIRLA number did not work, as if he had been trained, he replied, well, call tomorrow, or the day after or next week. ”
Alex has not been working for two months, since he was suspended from his job as a waiter in a restaurant in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus pandemic; And as much as he has submitted job applications, nobody calls him. "Even my 17-year-old son has filled out applications everywhere, but there's no answer, either."
Trust that you are frustrated as time passes; and he has no money inflows.
“I haven't been paying rent for two months. That help that the governor promised to give us was a joy because it was going to help me at least complete for a month's rent. ”
He says that he will continue to call CHIRLA and CARECEN, but he does not know if they will answer him. "They are supposed to be organizations that are there to help us."
Pure circus
Pedro Rodríguez, who was also unemployed in an Inglewood restaurant, says that he felt so bad and discouraged because they did not answer him in CHIRLA and CARECEN, who has wondered, if it were not "pure circus that help that they say we are going to give".
Question why the state did not deliver aid directly to those who pay state taxes through Personal Identification Numbers (ITIN).
Mexican immigrant with almost 30 years living and paying taxes in the US, says that the worst of the case is that all these aids that are advertised on television for the undocumented, make the owners of rented houses believe that the state or the counties already they are giving money; and that they are spending it on something else instead of paying the rent.
"My landlord told me, because on television they say there is a lot of help for you. Well, even in Mexico, my relatives called me to congratulate me on the 500 dollars that the governor gave me, and for the rent assistance from the county, ”he comments.
Frustration
Alfredo Muñoz spent the day trying to speak to CHIRLA and CARECEN from nine in the morning. “At CHIRLA, he replied that the phone was not working, that it was out of order. At CARECEN, after a wait of more than two hours, they cut me off, ”he says.
Unable to communicate, he accepts that he felt very bad and sad. “But without having to eat or pay the rent I have no choice but to keep calling them. Although I have to admit that spending all day glued to the phone, it was like a little mockery"
Alfredo is a cosmetologist who has not been able to work for two months, after the salon was closed because of COVID-19. "I need money. Without work, the rent and the phone accumulated. We do not receive unemployment or government aid. ”
A tragedy
Miguel Ángel Andrade confessed that he was very sad and depressed because nobody answered him in the numbers of the non-profit organizations that are going to hand over the governor's money.
"ANDIt has been two months since I paid the rent. We have no resources, not even for food. ”, comments this Mexican immigrant who worked in cleaning a gym before the coronavirus, and does not know if he will have a job when the emergency arises.
But despite his disappointment, he says he will continue to call for help for undocumented immigrants impacted by the coronavirus. “I will continue to fight. That for me is not, but I have come to think that perhaps these organizations are playing with us. "
He adds that they from the shadows pay taxes. "The truth is that we are experiencing a real tragedy"
They were not prepared
Jorge López, who came to the country in 1988, and before COVID-19, worked doing everything in social events organized for a company dedicated to this field, considers that nonprofits were not prepared for the tsunami of phone calls they were to receive with requests for help.
“I'm going to try it tomorrow to see if calls come in to CHIRLA and if it doesn't hang up on CARECEN again. I owe a little rent and I am concerned because I had always paid on time. Hopefully they will give me the governor's help. ”
