No jobs, no safety nets: Undocumented workers ‘completely adrift’ as crisis persists – By Lautaro Grinspan (Miami Herald) / Sept 15 2020
In the waning days of August, Elia had enough money to either pay for next month’s rent or cover back-to-school expenses for her two teenage children. But not both.
It was the latest in a long line of financial dilemmas that Elia, an undocumented domestic worker from Mexico, has faced since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March decimated her client list. Clients, she explained, discontinued her cleaning services because they worried about her bringing the virus into their homes.
The ensuing belt-tightening has been severe.
“The first thing that you stop buying are personal items. My kids and I, we are making do with what we already have,” said Elia, who asked to withhold her full name for fear of reprisal. “No new clothes, no new shoes. There’s no money for that.”
The income she still pulls in from the handful of clients she has left goes to utilities, rent and food.
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