Advocates are outraged that thousands of undocumented immigrants who applied for pandemic relief assistance under the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund may not get it. A $40 million fund for those who were excluded from federal pandemic relief has been dramatically cut back, with only about $6.5 million sent out so far.
The Murphy administration points to federal constraints on the money as the reason why the fund was cut off. The governor’s office said the federal funding came with a deadline of Dec. 31. Instead of returning that $34 million in unused funding to the federal government, the administration said it will use the funds to pay for expenses like payroll and other department costs.
The state has made an additional $10 million available for the fund and is accepting applications through January 31.
Immigrant advocacy groups argue the program’s complicated application process, rather than a lack of need, is the real problem.
