Millions of illegal immigrants set to get $4.38B in Biden COVID cash
The Center for Immigration Studies on Monday estimated that at least 2.1 million illegal immigrants could be eligible for $4.38 billion wired directly into their checking accounts, just like the hundreds of millions of legal residents and citizens who started receiving checks last week.
What’s more, said the Center’s Research Director Steven A. Camarota, the number could be double his estimate based on Social Security Administration data.
Despite Democratic claims that illegal immigrants do not have a Social Security number required to get a share of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package, several federal programs provide them to 2.65 million aliens, according to data cited by Camarota.
Based on income data, likely only 2.1 million aliens and their 1.1 million U.S.-born children meet the income limits in the package, said Camarota. “In total, illegal immigrants could receive an estimated $4.38 billion in stimulus checks from the new COVID relief bill — $2.85 billion directly, and another $1.53 billion on behalf of their children,” said the analysis shared with Secrets.
But because counting the population of illegal immigrants in the United States is difficult due to fraud and theft of Social Security numbers, Camarota said over 2 million others could also be receiving the checks. Included in that estimate are 600,000 former guest workers and 1.8 million the Social Security Administration estimated use numbers and names that do not match.
“There is simply no question that millions of illegal immigrants will receive billions of dollars in COVID relief checks,” said Camarota. “This highlights an even more disturbing fact — illegal immigrants are being issued Social Security numbers in large numbers. This is a clear indication that America is simply not serious about enforcing its own immigration laws,” he added.
During the debate over the huge spending package, Democrats rebuffed GOP concerns that illegal immigrants would be eligible for the checks because they do not have Social Security numbers.
But Camarota noted that the numbers are assigned to asylum-seekers, those in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and those with “temporary protected status.”
And, he said, while there are programs to “weed out” improper payments, the Social Security Administration doesn’t use them.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/millions-of-illegal-immigrants-set-to-get-4-38-billion-in-biden-covid-cash