Here in New York City, immigrant workers left out of government pandemic relief took to the streets Tuesday, International Women’s Day, shutting down traffic on the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Workers and advocates are demanding $3 billion be added to the Excluded Workers Fund and the creation of a permanent unemployment insurance program. This is Ana Maria Archila, longtime activist, who is now running for lieutenant governor of New York.

Ana Maria Archila: “Governor Hochul had an opportunity to include the Excluded Workers Fund in her budget, and she chose not to. Governor Hochul had an opportunity to make sure that immigrant families would not be excluded from healthcare, and she chose not to. And that’s why we are on the streets, because she is choosing to prioritize the needs and the priorities and the interests of billionaires in a moment when immigrant workers have been at the forefront of protecting every single one of us.”