Democrat leaders work around getting relief assistance for illegal immigrants

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Democrat governors and mayors are working around Congress to get funds for illegal immigrants who were not able to receive the stimulus check as relief assistance for the coronavirus pandemic.
• According to a Republican congressional aide, the virus benefits were “limited to citizens and residents of the US that are legally permitted to work.”
• Representative Lou Correa introduced a bill that allows “2020 recovery rebates” based on an individual’s taxpayer identification number and said that excluding people like illegal immigrants put the most vulnerable residents “in grave danger.”

According to a report, Democrat governors and mayors are working around Congress to solicit budget for illegal immigrants who were excluded from the coronavirus economic impact payment ($1,200) in accordance with the $2.2 trillion stimulus plan enacted in March.

The Congress limited the qualification on who can receive relief assistance to workers — those who have Social Security numbers. With this, more than 15 million immigrants would not be able to get stimulus checks or expanded unemployment benefits.

Governor Gavin Newsom created a private-public fund worth $125million that illegal immigrants in California could withdraw from.

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot extended the city benefits to illegal immigrants — including money from the city’s Small Business Resiliency Program.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a democrat, is creating a $5 million funding package that would be available to both eligible residents and illegal immigrants.

In a Politico report on Wednesday, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey said that they are considering a workaround to give financial help to immigrants.

Many immigrants, both legal and illegal who do not have a Social Security Number, file taxes using an Individual Identification Number. The eligibility requirement was by design.

A Republican congressional aide told Politico that the virus benefits were “limited to citizens and residents of the US that are legally permitted to work.”

The aide explained that immigrants which include students, spouses and legal immigrants — who filed with a taxpayer number could utilize it for various reasons related to having to pay country tax but not to work in the US.

Representative Lou Correa introduced a bill that permits “2020 recovery rebates” based on an individual’s taxpayer identifications number. “These taxpayers work in critical sectors of our economy, like agriculture, and contribute greatly to our country,” the lawmaker said. To exclude them would place some of our most vulnerable residents in “grave danger”, he added.

Source: New York Post