Earlier this year, New York created a $2.1 billion fund to help immigrants living in the country without legal permission and others who weathered the pandemic without access to government relief. The Excluded Workers Fund, by far the biggest of its kind in the country, was intended to provide eligible workers with one-time payments to help cover costs associated with joblessness, such as back rent and medical bills.

But just a few months after the state began accepting applications, the fund is about to run out of money, following a blitz in claims and a speedy distribution of aid. State authorities announced they would stop accepting new applications as of Oct. 8, adding that even those who had applied in the two weeks before that deadline might not be approved.

The fund’s rapid depletion could mean that tens of thousands of applicants might miss out on payments, according to organisers and state lawmakers who championed the fund.

It could also mean that thousands more may never get an opportunity to apply at all, including upstate workers or other immigrants in more isolated areas who do not have transportation or ready access to the community-based organisations that have been instrumental in helping people assemble their applications.

Soaring demand for the fund has placed pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul to add more money to the pot in what could be an early test of her progressive bona fides as she campaigns next year. Hochul, a Democrat, had made it a priority to fast-track the disbursement of the original $2.1 billion when she ascended to the state’s top job after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August.

The fund, which awards grants of up to $15,600, was one of the most contentious points of debate during negotiations over the state budget and had faced some resistance from Cuomo, who said he was concerned about the risk of fraud.

Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, have pushed back on the idea of diverting additional taxpayer dollars to the fund.

“It’s not surprising that there’s no amount of money that will ever be enough for these advocates,” said Sen. Rob Ortt, the Republican minority leader in the state Senate. “They want to make this a permanent thing.”

On Monday, a group of activists called on Hochul to expand the fund by $3 billion in the next budget and to come up with additional money to cover eligible claims that had been submitted before the deadline this year.

“Those folks did all they could,” said Bianca Guerrero of the community organisation Make the Road New York, who was the campaign coordinator of the Fund Excluded Workers coalition, which held rallies, closed bridges and waged a hunger strike to push for the fund. “It’s not enough to finish the job that the last governor started; we need her to make sure that it meets the actual demand.”