The socially active W. K. Kellogg Foundation is supplying the funds for a New Mexico program that gives a $500 monthly income to illegal immigrants for a year.
According to the Las Cruces Sun News in California, the New Mexico pilot program provides 330 families of illegal immigrants a “Guaranteed Basic Income” of $500 per month for a year and is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Up Together.
The money, which according to the coalition of organizations administering the program does not have to be reported by families as income for tax purposes, is considered “gifts” that is directly deposited to the person’s bank account and can be spent on whatever the person wants.
The Kellogg Foundation started in 1930 from the founder of the iconic cereal company with the idea of “administering funds for the promotion of the welfare, comfort, health, education, feeding, clothing, sheltering and safeguarding of children and youth, directly or indirectly, without regard to sex, race, creed, or nationality,” according to the organization.
The organization also works on a variety of left-wing agenda items such as racial equity and affordable childcare, according to its website.
An information sheet on the program explains that participants will be selected form 13 counties in New Mexico to start getting the money in March.
It is designed to help illegal, or mixed immigration status families, regardless of if they are working or not, who will be contacted by phone during the program to see how the money is impacting the families.
The coalition will then author a report on how effective the program was, and continue advocating for increased wages, cash assistance to low-income families, and the inclusion of illegal immigrants in unemployment and other relief programs.
The requirements for the program includes proof of residency in the 13 counties, being part of an “undocumented,” or mixed status family, applicants must be a parent or guardian of at least one minor child or adult dependent with a disability, must have received financial relief from the New Mexico Human Services Department, state or local economic relief, and must attend an orientation session through the Zoom virtual meeting platform, according to the coalition’s information sheet.
The Kellogg Foundation website states that the organization is focused on children, working families and equitable communities.
“Children are at the heart of everything we do at the Kellogg Foundation,” the site says. “Our goal is lasting, transformational change for children. As a grant maker, we recognize that children live in families and families live in communities. Therefore, our three areas of focused work – Thriving Children, Working Families and Equitable Communities – are dynamic and always interconnected.”