Here in New York, over a thousand immigrant workers and their supporters held a protest at the state Capitol in Albany Wednesday calling on lawmakers to include $3 billion in the state budget to support immigrant workers who are excluded from federal pandemic aid. Advocates are also demanding New York create a permanent program that provides unemployment insurance and healthcare benefits to undocumented workers. Democracy Now! spoke to Miguel Angel Flores, a construction worker from Mexico who’s lived in the United States for 16 years. He was on a bus headed back to Brooklyn after he and other immigrant workers marched to Albany last week.

Miguel Angel Flores: “We came to Albany to tell the governor that we are awake, we are united, and we won’t stop fighting until our needs are met. … This movement is an example to other states. Immigrants across the country are rising up. We are demanding that our rights be respected and to be treated just like any other citizen who pays taxes.”