by Jason Hopkins
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton announced legislation Tuesday that would prevent state and local governments from using public funds to make coronavirus assistance payments to individuals living in the United States illegally.
Cotton plans to introduce the No Bailouts for Illegal Aliens Act, an amendment to the CARES Act that would restrict any future payments to states or municipalities until they certify they’re not distributing stimulus checks or other payments to illegal aliens.
“Congress passed the CARES Act to help workers impacted by the China virus pandemic, not to give a handout to those who broke our immigration laws. The federal government shouldn’t be subsidizing states’ efforts to send cash to illegal aliens,” Cotton said in a prepared statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Under the auspices of the bill, states or municipalities would be deemed ineligible for further funds provided by the CARES Act if they are not compliant with the certification requirements. Cotton’s office specifically singled out California, which on Monday began accepting applications from illegal aliens for direct cash assistance.
Cotton’s bill does not affect the loans offered to companies and non-profit groups under the CARES Act, and also does not affect the unemployment measures or relief checks given to American under the CARES Act.
Introduction of the legislation marks the latest back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of coronavirus relief for those living in the U.S. illegally.
The CARES Act, the first major stimulus bill passed by Congress to provide economic relief to the country, did not allow illegal aliens eligible for assistance, sparking protest from some Democratic lawmakers. The House of Representatives, controlled by the Democratic Party, has since passed the HEROES Act, which if signed into law would make many illegal aliens eligible for cash assistance by way of Taxpayer Identification Numbers.
On the day the House Democrats introduced their bill, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy called it a “liberal wishlist that has no chance of becoming law.” The White House has also indicated that the Democrats’ coronavirus package is a no-go.
– – –
Jason Hopkins is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Maybe the average american is too lazy or unwilling to do the work due to the abandonment of ethics, integrity, conscience, morality etc. Important issues you and your libs have replaced with whining, crying, blaming, expecting something for nothing IE. Socialism. If people want to come to this country on a work visa and send money home to help their family, I have no problem with that if they’re contributing to businesses here and obeying the laws of the land, but to put the country in debt by giving them stimulus money that our children will have to bare the burden of is out of the question. An alternative solution to this problem could be that we true Americans swap you guys for the illegal aliens. Of course they would require boot, they haven’t been liberalized…..yet
This illegal aliens as you call them, Mr. Cotton-picking Tom, do all the dangerous back-breaking work of delivering crates, processing our food without adequate safety equipment to protect them from covid, forcing to work at ungodly hours, to refuse them health coverage, to deny them decent wages, or to steal what meager earnings they get. Now, if you and your kind would like to replace these illegal aliens by doing their dangerous and essential work yourselves, then fine–hop to it!
If not for these aliens, nobody would do these essential chores to enable the rest of us to continue our lifestyles. You like to say these people are essential but refuse to give them to tools that they need to survive and to perform their duties. The average American is either unwilling or too lazy to do this back-breaking work.