By Anne Cullen

Law360 (April 30, 2020, 6:10 PM EDT) -- After many immigrants were cut off from the benefits handed out in the first coronavirus relief measure, a Democratic lawmaker said Thursday that a set of pro-worker policies he's looking to slot into the forthcoming rescue package "has to extend to undocumented workers."

California Rep. Ro Khanna is among dozens of Democrats from both chambers championing the inclusion of the Essential Workers Bill of Rights in the next round of coronavirus relief legislation. If adopted, the framework would guarantee frontline laborers proper protective gear like masks and gloves, a livable wage, sick leave, child care support and other benefits as they continue to clock in during the global health crisis.

Khanna and the other policy backers, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have made clear that the initiative should cover laborers regardless of their immigration status.

During a call Thursday afternoon centered on farmworker safety amid the pandemic, Khanna told reporters that it will be easier for his party to ensure that undocumented immigrants are built into the pro-worker measure than it was to ensure they received the checks sent out under the first stimulus package.

"I believe the workers' rights is actually an easier lift," Khanna said. "It was a harder political lift to say that the stimulus should include those that are undocumented."

The initial Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act specifically mandated that individuals considered "nonresident aliens" or those without Social Security numbers wouldn't receive the $1,200 per adult and $500 per child benefit Congress offered to help people weather the widespread financial woes brought on by the pandemic.

"Nonresident alien," a tax term, is defined as an immigrant who does not have a green card and hasn't passed the substantial presence test, a convoluted mandate that requires immigrants to stay within the country for a certain amount of days within a yearslong window.

While Khanna said House Democrats tried and failed to keep more immigrants on the stimulus payroll, he said his party has better odds of securing undocumented laborers protections on the job.

"I don't think it's a hard lift to say workers need to have protective equipment," he said on Thursday. "You don't want those who are undocumented getting sick and then infecting American citizens."

Khanna's comments came during a virtual press conference hosted by a pair of D.C.-based advocacy groups, Farmworker Justice and the Environmental Working Group, which have both called on the federal government to shore up protections for farmworkers in this unprecedented era. 

Farmworker Justice's health policy director said during Thursday's call that these workers are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, because their employers haven't consistently taken steps to protect them.

Access to protective equipment or hand-washing stations in the fields isn't often provided, and many employers in this industry don't offer health insurance, according to Farmworker Justice's Alexis Guild. Guild added that undocumented immigrants, which make up the majority of farm laborers in the U.S., are "especially vulnerable to exploitation," as they aren't eligible for federal benefits that those with legal status can tap into, like Medicare and SNAP aid.

Estimates of the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. range from 10 million to 12 million, approximately 3.2% to 3.6% of the population, according to Pew Research Center. About half of the up to three million farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, though the department concedes that precise data is difficult to measure as unauthorized workers are often reluctant to reveal their immigration status.

White papers from Farmworker Justice and other industry players have clocked the figure closer to 70%.

Data on how many farmworkers have been impacted by the novel coronavirus are also hard to nail down, but the Environmental Working Group has found COVID-19 cases are on the rise in counties with the highest concentrations of farmworkers.

"We're all seeing just how vulnerable food and farmworkers are to COVID-19," Scott Faber, EWG's senior VP for government affairs, said on Thursday. He added that "employers must simply be required to provide food and farmworkers with health and safety protections."

Among the Essential Workers Bill of Rights is a provision that would ensure companies allocate federal funding to protect their employees, give workers health care, and protect whistleblowers who report unsafe conditions.

While Khanna said on Thursday that it would be "highly ambitious" to expect all 10 of the protections within the measure to make it into the next coronavirus relief package, he said he's hopeful "that it will include some of these provisions."

-- Additional reporting by Nadia Dreid and Emily Brill. Editing by Nicole Bleier.

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