Executive Summary
Immigrant, Black and Brown communities are reeling from COVID-19 and the crisis it has unleashed. We mourn the far too many Make the Road New York (MRNY) members and their loved ones who have contracted the virus and died. We hear daily from workers who have lost their jobs, are excluded from accessing Unemployment Insurance and all other income supports, and do not know how they will be able to buy groceries or pay the rent. We hear, too, from front-line workers who face the risk of contracting the virus at their work sites, where they labor without adequate protections. This report is based on a survey of primarily working-class Latinx immigrants across New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, one third of whom are undocumented. As residents in the epicenter of the pandemic grapple with the grave risk of infection, the dramatic loss of income, and deep concern of displacement, they need urgent action from federal, state, and local governments.