America is considered to be the land of immigrants which gives the impression of a diverse culture. However, in reality, this means that people of different ethnicities have to face a lot of prejudice, especially when they are not documented as natives. Since Trump came to power, many immigrants have struggled to gain citizenship in the country because even after living their entire lives in the state, the government does not allow them to call America their legitimate home.

At a time like this, immigrants have been facing a lot of trouble because of the lack of adequate medical and financial resources allocated for them. In California alone, there are more than 2 million undocumented immigrants and due to their citizenship status, they are ineligible to receive any sort of unemployment benefits from the government.

However, thanks to the power of social media, the state took notice of this issue and has set up a fund to provide support to the immigrants during the pandemic. This is a historic moment for California as, before this, the issues faced by the undocumented citizens were not even addressed at the government level.

Source: Mercury News

Governor Newsom announced that total funding of $125 million has been set up through a public-private partnership and the state itself will be contributing around $75 million.
The money will be distributed among the 12 immigrant-based nonprofit organizations operating in California and they aim to support around 150,000 undocumented adults who are facing health or financial issues. The process will begin on Monday and the state believes that the program will be completed by June 30.

California is encouraging immigrants to come forward and get themselves registered with the non-profit organizations as the funds would be distributed on a first-come-first-served basis. The program is only for adults so the applicants must

-be at least 18 years old and undocumented

-be ineligible for federal COVID-19 relief like the CARES Act

-have experienced a hardship due to the virus

Organizations working for this program include Catholic Charities and they will be operating in six counties of the Bay Area. The hotline for residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara is 1-866-490-3899.