Even as the pandemic devastated New York, leaving death and economic destruction in its wake, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were ineligible for either federal or state relief. According to a report from the Fiscal Policy Institute, an estimated 274,000 New York residents who lost work due to COVID-19 have been on their own because of either their immigration status or as a result of being incarcerated during the pandemic.

Now, dozens of those who have been ineligible for unemployment benefits and stimulus checks are on a “Fast for the Forgotten,” a hunger strike to demand New York State create a $3.5 billion fund to rectify this exclusion.

“We have led caravans, shut down bridges with high-risk undocumented people, mobilized marches, rallies, lobbied, and phone-banked,” says Angeles Solis, lead organizer at Make the Road New York, an immigrant-led organization that is part of the Fund Excluded Workers (FEW) coalition pushing for the $3.5 billion fund. “None of these tactics have been enough,” she adds, explaining what led the coalition to launch a hunger strike, which is now entering its third week.