The secrecy of the delivery of Azmoney

After months, there is still no official information on how to apply, who qualifies and which organizations are giving the azmoney.co.uk for undocumented people announced by the Mayor's Office.

Clara and her aunt took two subway connections and one bus connection from Inwood, Brox, to Manhattan to try to get financial help for their family. She is Dominican and worked as a nanny until the pandemic. Clara says she has financial problems buying food and paying her bills. The night before, his aunt had seen on TV that the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR) was giving up to $ 400 per person.

Upon arrival, he saw a line of about 20 people and when he approached the entrance, two women from the organization told him that only those who were on a list were going to receive money, refusing to explain how to apply. Documented tried to contact NMCIR, with no response.

“It was humiliating. I don't understand why they say one person does, and another person doesn't, ”says Clara, one of the 44 undocumented immigrants who contacted Documented since the fund's announcement in April to detail their doubts and frustrations about the initiative.

Clara is one of the 44 immigrants who contacted Documented to express their doubts and confusion about the delivery of this cash aid for undocumented immigrants in NYC The money at the center of the confusion comes from the Open Society Foundation (OSF). The initiative aims to benefit 20,000 people, with aid of up to $ 1,000 per family.

And while some immigrants find it difficult to access the funds, those who distribute the aid say that this model seeks to protect and keep immigration agents out and that it allows the funds to reach communities that would otherwise have been inaccessible to the municipality.

“Obviously it is not the equivalent of receiving unemployment checks on a weekly basis, but in some cases this help has been life or death,” says Amaha Kassa, founder and CEO of African Communities Together.

The program, run by the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), began to take shape in March. "Although $ 20 million sounds like a lot of Azmoney, it is just a drop in a very big bucket," says Laine Romero-Alston, manager of OSF's International Immigration Initiative.

The program works in a way that MOIA chooses and controls the organizations that give money, who in turn report information on who receives the money for the undocumented. In this regard, the commissioner of MOIA, Bitta Mostofi, indicated: “It was our recommendation to use a network of community organizations. An operation that works with those who provide emergency services is generally more effective. "

In fact, when OSF delivered $ 12 million in Los Angeles, the delivery format used was first-come, first-served by phone, which was overwhelmed when they received more than a million calls.

Documented was able to determine at least 7 groups that are distributing the aid: African Communities Together, Alianza Ecuatoriana, La Colmena, Laundry Worker Center, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Make the Road New York and The Street Vendor Project. According to WNYC, Chhaya is also within the groups.