These days, when Jose Luis Serrano gets dinner ready for his three kids, he scoops a little less rice into the pot and serves it with a small side of beans. Meat is now a thing of past. He lost his job two weeks ago.

"We’ve started to ration so that we have enough food because we don’t know how much longer this crisis is going to last," Serrano, 58, told WNYC, in Spanish. 

Serrano used to clean the bathrooms and the kitchens in a New Jersey hotel. But as the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed, customers stopped coming and his boss told him to go home.

Serrano lives in Elizabeth. It’s the fourth biggest city in the state with a large population of Latino immigrants. Some, like Serrano, don’t have any legal status.

"Everyday things are getting worse. When this crisis is over there are going to be a lot of people that are in this situation so how are we supposed to meet our basic needs for our homes, our families?" he said. 

Serrano can’t apply for unemployment. And the federal stimulus package that will mail $1,200 checks to individuals and an additional $500 per child is only for people with a social security number. That means Serrano won't qualify -- even though he uses an individual taxpayer ID number. The IRS gives that number so people—regardless of immigration status—can pay taxes.

Sara Cullinane advocates for immigrants at Make the Road New Jersey. She says undocumented workers are being shut out of most federal and state remedies.

"We're hearing stories of food insecurity, fears about how people pay rent once the moratorium is lifted. Fears about even accessing basic medical care," she said. "It’s so important that immigrants are included in safety net relief and other responses so they can keep their families afloat."

Serrano's wife is still working a few hours a week at a warehouse but he worries about her safety and how much longer she'll stay employed.

Cullinane says it's another reason why undocumented immigrant workers need a lifeline, too.

"Immigrant workers are doing the work that makes it possible for the rest of us to do social distancing. They're doing deliveries to homes. They're doing work in warehouses and the logistics sector. And they're doing really critical health care work," Cullinane said. "And yet many of them are ineligible for relief."

Serrano's not sure how long he'll be out of work or whether they will even be a job for him to go back to.