Before beginning the review of the literature, it is important to define important terms that pertain to our research question and the conclusions and calls to action that will be made later on

Globalization is a term used to describe the increased interconnectedness and dependence of economics, cultures, systems, and technologies across the world . Globalization can lead to forced migration due to economic need, and general economic inequality for those living outside of or undocumented in the world’s wealthiest nations. 

Xenophobia is a fear and/or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or the general idea of the “other”. Xenophobia can come from an individual, an entity, a community, or an entire nation and in many ways it fuels the violence towards and lack of social and financial support provided to undocumented immigrants on the part of our country, state, and city government. 

Austerity economics is the manner in which a government cuts spending that they may deem as superfluous or necessary. The cost of this budget-cutting affects the well-being and options for social mobility of the working class and poor most directly. Fabricant & Brier (2016) explained, “The diminishment of the state’s facilitating role in redressing imbalances of wealth or income is a key factor in this downward shift in opportunity” (p. 14). Fabricant & Brier (2016) pushed their readers to ask questions such as: “What is our collective future as a nation if the state is less and less able to make leveling social investments in public education and public health? What motivates resistance to public investment on the one hand and a blind faith in privatization of public assets on the other, particularly in a period of intensifying global competition?” (p. 14). Social policy and economics that exhibit characteristics of austerity are especially prevalent during times of economic crisis, when fear and uncertainty run rampant for all. For example, during a pandemic.  Those who are most affected by these polices are those who are excluded workers – specifically the undocumented. 

An undocumented person is someone who is living in a country without legal documentation based on the immigration laws of that country. It can refer to someone who entered the country without inspection by border patrol or customs or someone who entered the country with documents that have expired.

Of undocumented workers, Aviva Chomsky (2014) wrote: 

“The work that undocumented migrants do is essential to the functioning of the economy and to the comfort of citizens. The system is also, however, fundamentally unjust. By creating a necessarily subordinate workforce without legal status, we maintain a system of legalized inequality. It’s a domestic reproduction of a global system. The border is used to rationalize the system globally; it makes it seem right and natural that exploited workers in one place should produce cheap goods and services for consumers in another place” (p. 14). 

Under the Trump Administration, the public charge rule aimed to restrict the number of people who were eligible for green cards and other visas by making applicants state if they may ever be dependent on government benefits in their immigration applications.  This legal understanding of public charge has since been halted and is allegedly not being used in immigration proceedings.

Domestic workers are people who work for private households. These workers provide personal and household care and support to those who live in the residence and to the residence itself. The tasks required of a domestic worker could be: cleaning, cooking, elderly care, childcare, or driving.

The CDC defines essential workers as “those who conduct a range of operations and services in industries that are essential to ensure the continuity of critical functions in the United States” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). The two main categories of essential workers are those who work in healthcare settings and those who “…are essential to maintain critical infrastructure and continue critical services and functions” (CDC, 2021). 

To qualify as an excluded worker within the guidelines of the Excluded Worker Fund, one must have: 

1. Lived in New York State before March 27, 2020, and continue to live in New York State;
2. Are not eligible for and did not receive unemployment insurance or any other COVID-19 income relief or other specified benefits from the state or federal government;
3. Earned less than $26,208 in the 12 months prior to April 2021; and
4. Lost at least 50% of weekly work-related earnings or household income at any point in time between February 23, 2020 and April 1, 2021 due to total or partial unemployment, or inability or unavailability to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic or, became responsible for a majority of their household income due to death or disability of the head of household. (Department of Labor, 2021).

Irregular migration is the movement of people that takes place outside the laws, regulations, or international agreements governing the entry into or exit from the place of origin, the journey, and the destination (International Organization for Migration, 2021).

Throughout this project, the term sending state may be used to describe a country from which someone is coming and receiving state may be used to describe a country where someone is going.

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