Republican senators seek to ban all undocumented immigrants from new round of stimulus payments
Republican senators have introduced an amendment to the 2021 budget resolution seeking a ban on any direct stimulus payments from being distributed to undocumented immigrants, as lawmakers debated the sweeping relief measures on Thursday afternoon.
Senators Todd Young (R—IN) and Tom Cotton (R—AR) announced the amendment ahead of what’s known on Capitol Hill as a budget vote-a-rama, in which lawmakers vote on a series of amendments in a procedure that can last hours long and well into the nighttime, expected to begin at 2:30pm ET.
Undocumented immigrants have not been included in congressional relief payments, and recipients of the direct stimulus checks sent under the CARES Act were required to possess a valid Social Security number.
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Democrats have since called for the next round of checks to include nearly 5.1 million US citizens or permanent resident immigrants living in families with mixed immigration status — many of which were reportedly excluded from the previous relief payments.
Under the previous coronavirus relief legislation, millions of Americans who are married to or live in households with undocumented immigrants were denied assistance as the pandemic swept through the country, the Guardian reported, impacting 1.4 million spouses and 3.7 million children.
A sign of what's coming during vote-a-rama this afternoon/evening -> "Young, Cotton Introduce Amendment to Prohibit Stimulus Checks for Illegal Immigrants" pic.twitter.com/z8kt4V8KSu
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) February 4, 2021
Lawful permanent residents, as well as immigrants identified by the US government as “qualifying resident aliens” and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were also eligible for stimulus checks.
It was not immediately clear whether the Republican amendment to the budget resolution was specifically meant to target those 5.1 million people in mixed immigration status households. Neither senator’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
The specifics of the amendment also remained unclear, as is typical with many last-minute amendments featured in a vote-a-rama.
The unique procedure allows lawmakers to submit amendments on pieces of scrap paper on the day of the event, and votes are non-binding — meaning the underlying bill cannot be changed.
In a statement announcing the amendment, Mr Young said: “Economic Impact Payments were intended to provide a lifeline to Americans struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic. They were not intended for people who are in our country illegally.”
He added: “Our amendment would ensure that people who break our immigration laws aren’t receiving taxpayer-funded handouts.”
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