Democratic states are extending welfare benefits to the undocumented

One march morning, a raucous parade of protesters passed by The Economist’s offices in midtown Manhattan. Supporters of a policy called the Excluded Workers Fund were showing their discontent, discernible above the din of city traffic, with New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul (whose office is a few blocks away). They also sought attention in other ways, disrupting traffic on the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Some even marched 150 miles (240km) to the state capital, Albany.

The Excluded Workers Fund was a state fund set up to pay workers who did not qualify for federal unemployment benefits or stimulus cheques—mainly undocumented immigrants. Established in August 2021, it exhausted the $2.1bn allocated to it in three months, mostly through payments of $15,600 to 130,000 people. The protesters were demanding $3bn more to cover 175,000 workers who also qualified.