The Eater: Expedited Unemployment Processing Doesn’t Help Undocumented Food-Service Workers in Massachusetts

“Undocumented workers are going to be the ones left out of any sort of social safety net we have set up,” said Lily Huang, who is the co-director of Massachusetts Jobs With Justice, a coalition of labor, faith, and student organizations that advocates for workers’ rights…

With the assistance of a translator, Eater spoke with two undocumented food-service workers about the impact novel coronavirus-related job loss is having on their lives. Each is a single mother of multiple children and works in the food-service industry in Greater Boston. Eater granted both women anonymity so that they could safely share their stories.

“I have two kids. I don’t have anything. I don’t have any money. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m not sure how I’m going to pay the rent.”

She works as a prep cook, line cook, and dishwasher for 40 hours a week in a restaurant in Greater Boston, earning $1,200 to $1,300 every two weeks before taxes. (Yes, undocumented workers pay taxes. Billions and billions of dollars worth, in fact.) Without access to unemployment insurance benefits, her earnings drop to $0. The restaurant she works in has shuttered completely; there are no shifts to pick up, and she doesn’t have any money in reserve… “