Budd Lake resident Carol Leon is a U.S. citizen who lost a good job selling cars when the pandemic shut dealerships down in March.

“You wake up, thinking about your bills and your rent. And you go to bed thinking about your bills and your rent, how you’re gonna make ends meet,” Leon said.

Like many out-of-work New Jersey parents, she’s barely making it on $230 a month unemployment. Carol’s wife earns minimum wage, but she’s an undocumented immigrant from Colombia, among the almost half-million New Jersey immigrants not entitled to any federal pandemic relief or unemployment benefits, even though most pay taxes.

“Every week, we’re going over her pay stub and they’re taking out so much, and she can’t take anything back out, you know? There’s nothing for her,” Leon said.

“They should get money back that’s tax-related, because they pay so much in taxes, over $600 million alone to the state. So it’s a system that’s broken, it’s a system that’s biased,” said Adam McGovern, legislative strategist at Wind of the Spirit.

Advocates had hoped Gov. Phil Murphy’s $32.4 billion budget proposal might offer some state pandemic aid for undocumented Jersey immigrants, but they didn’t get a dime.

“We wanted to see some funds to give back some of the money that so many immigrants put into our state taxes, so they can make ends meet, have rental relief, you know at least a one-time stimulus payment,” McGovern said.

Murphy argued the pandemic has crushed state tax revenue and he wants to borrow $4 billion in case a second wave of COVID-19 ravages New Jersey. But advocates say, immigrants, who during the pandemic have worked many essential jobs in warehousing, sanitation, healthcare and childcare, are still getting hammered by COVID’s first wave.

“We were really disappointed because we expected more from this budget. We expected more from this governor,” said Maneesha Kelkar, interim director at New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

In the current politically-charged climate, critics say, federal pandemic assistance is restricted only to those with regular social security numbers, even one undocumented person disqualifies the entire household.

“The word, ‘undocumented’ has become so loaded these days, especially in the current environment,” Kelkar said. “How are people supposed to go on? There has to be some relief.”

“The need doesn’t disappear, just by ignoring the people. It doesn’t mean they’re not there. It doesn’t mean that they don’t matter,” McGovern said. “And we’re leaving behind citizens, as well as undocumented people.”

Citizens like Carol. The couple has two kids.

“Nothing is being done for them. That’s what really worries me, because they’re children. They can’t fend for themselves,” Leon said.

Legislation to provide pandemic relief for some immigrants is winding its way through the State House. Expect rallies in Trenton as lawmakers rework the governor’s budget.