Unconditional income: a city in California will distribute money to residents, including illegal immigrants

The city of Compton in California is launching a pilot program that will guarantee monthly cash payments to 800 of its low-income residents - without any obligation on their part, writes CNN.

Photo: Shutterstock

In a statement released Monday, Oct. 19, Mayor Aja Brown announced the launch of a guaranteed income program that aims to "combat racial and economic injustice that harms both social welfare programs and economic systems."

The program is scheduled to begin later this year with a select group of “pre-vetted” residents who will receive monthly cash payments for two years. A spokesman for one of the organizations cooperating with the program said they had not yet determined the exact amount of cash payments "beyond a few hundred dollars."

The program will also be available to “illegal or informally employed residents, immigrants with varying legal status, and former prisoners.”

“People in our society are going through difficult times, and I know that a guaranteed income can give them the opportunity to have a little wiggle room to return to school, explore a new career path, spend time with their children or improve their mental and emotional well-being,” she said. Brown in a statement. “Ensuring that all people have the opportunity to live with dignity is what we should all strive for in America.”

One of the features of the Compton Pledge program is its online payment platform, which allows people to receive money through direct deposit into their account, wire transfers, or even prepaid debit cards.

In addition, the platform also provides free banking services and access to “existing financial, legal and advisory services.”

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Beacon of hope

About one in five Compton residents live below the poverty line, a figure twice the national average, according to census data.

The coronavirus pandemic has also raised the city's unemployment rate, which is currently 21,9%. Authorities hope the program will reverse these worrisome trends. To date, the program has raised over $ 2,5 million in private and in-kind donations. This money will go to the Guaranteed Income Fund, a registered public charity.

“The vast majority of funds will go directly to remittance recipients,” the program said in a fact sheet.

The program is led by Mayor Brown in partnership with the Guaranteed Income Fund, the Jane Family Institute - a nonprofit research institution - and dozens of other organizations that will advise on how to implement the initiative in the community.

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Not the first try

The program, which organizers call "the largest and longest-running guaranteed income initiative," is not the first of its kind in the state of California.

In 2019, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs launched the Stockton Economic Opportunity Demonstration (SEEDS), the first guaranteed income program in the country. SEEDS gave 125 Stockton residents $500 a month for 18 months.

And in June of this year, Tubbs and the Economic Security Project, a group that funds guaranteed income projects, created the Mayors for Guaranteed Income consortium of 25 mayors, including Brown, who are promoting such pilot programs.

The Compton program has received praise from many supporters of such initiatives.

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