This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that undocumented immigrants and excluded workers will receive $40 million of the state’s $275 million economic relief package. The move comes after workers excluded from past state and federal relief protested and embarked on hunger strikes. New Jersey residents who were excluded, regardless of immigration status or whether they filed taxes, are able to claim a one-time payment of $1,000, with a household maximum of $2,000. People with incomes over about $55,000 won’t be eligible. Advocates said this was an important first step toward helping people struggling during the pandemic, but are still afraid this sum won’t cover the whole community. NJ.com
Documented and Waterwell Present: I Know What Pandemic Means
📍 Documented Event
This Wednesday, May 12 at 2p.m., Documented and Waterwell will release a documentary that examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated New York’s Latin American immigrant communities. “Yo sé qué es pandemia” or “I know what pandemic means” is a bilingual film and was directed by filmmaker Frisly Soberanis. It includes voices of the readers of Documented Semanal, a publication that provides undocumented New Yorkers with valuable information via WhatsApp. The film follows loss, community and financial pressures and an overwhelming sense of helplessness within the city’s Latin American immigrant communities. Register here for Wednesday’s free Zoom screening.
NJ Daughter of Immigrant Parents Accepted into Ivy League College
While living in Bangladesh, Abduh Miah had a degree in education and was a middle school teacher. But his credentials couldn’t get him a job in the U.S., and he spent more than 20 years working fast-food restaurant jobs while spreading the value of education to his children. Last month, he found out his daughter, Iffat Aniqa, was accepted to Yale University. She is the latest student from Paterson, which is largely made up of immigrants, to head to an Ivy League college. Aniqa was inspired to apply to Yale by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation, which encourages Paterson students to aim high in their college applications. North Jersey
What News is Most Important to New York’s Caribbean Communities?
📍 Documented Survey
Documented is looking to improve coverage of issues that are important to the Caribbean community. If you’d like to give us your input to help us achieve that goal, please answer a set of questions here.
