California’s Newsom Announces $125M Fund To Give Coronavirus Stimulus Checks To Immigrants In State Illegally

California has been seen as the most aggressive state in the nation when it came to giving benefits to immigrants living in the country illegally. Last year, California became the first state to give taxpayer-funded health benefits to low-income adults 25 and younger living in the country illegally. This year, Newsom had proposed expanding those benefits to seniors 65 and older.

The move by California came as some Democrats in Washington, D.C., have been lobbying to include payments to illegal immigrants in stimulus packages.

The $2 trillion stimulus package recently passed by Congress, which President Trump signed into law, is giving small-business loans and assistance in the form of direct payments of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child. The latter has been distributed to people with Social Security numbers.

While that included working legal immigrants — like those in the U.S. on nonimmigrant (temporary) work visas — with Social Security numbers in order to be able to work legally in the U.S., it did not include people in the country illegally.

Meanwhile, Washington’s tourism arm announced that it will include $5 million specifically for illegal immigrants who had been left out of employment benefits and other forms of assistance, The Washington Post reported.

Story cited here.