Cuomo’s New York: Illegal Aliens to Get $15,600 in Taxpayer-Funded Checks
Nearly 200,000 eligible illegal aliens in New York could receive a one-time payment of $15,600 in taxpayer-funded benefits thanks to a budget deal approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
This week, as Breitbart News reported, state Democrats and Cuomo struck a budget deal that shifts $2.1 billion in taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens who lost their jobs during the Chinese coronavirus crisis. The aid to illegal aliens is $1.1 billion more than tax credits and grants authorized for small businesses in the state.
Estimates now suggest about 187,000 illegal aliens are eligible for the benefits and each could receive a one-time payment of $15,600 or about $300 a week for the entire year.
Law360 broke down the figures:
Jobless workers may qualify for the full $15,600 payment if they show that they have filed a tax return within the past 3 years with a valid taxpayer identification number. The “Tier 1” relief amounts to a year’s worth of $300 weekly unemployment benefits, one-third less than New York’s current unemployment benefits, according to State Senator Jessica Ramos, D-Queens.
Workers may also provide letters from their employer, paystubs and wage statements to try and access the Tier 1 payment. At a later point, the Commissioner of Labor will identify other forms of proof that workers may show to receive the full relief, according to the text of the bill.
The fund will also free up a $3,200 payment — an amount equaling the combined three federal stimulus payments — to jobless workers who can’t provide the documentation for the higher payment, but who can prove their identity and state residency.
Despite supporting the budget deal, Cuomo has admitted he is concerned about the potential for fraud when illegal aliens begin applying for the one-time payments.
“Cuomo says the [New York State] Comptroller will examine excluded workers fund before it goes online, as well as [Attorney General] Tish James, for potential fraud vulnerabilities,” Zach Williams with City & State NY reported.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said the benefits equate to taxpayer-funded subsidies for federal immigration violators:
Why are taxes high in New York?
So the government can pay illegal immigrants up to $15,600.
In New York, it pays to break the law. https://t.co/0BMLbxVQMm
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 8, 2021
Open borders activists had been lobbying state lawmakers for months to include taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens in the budget. In one instance, illegal aliens eligible for the benefits went on a nearly month-long hunger strike, Breitbart News reported.
More than a million jobs have been lost in New York and an estimated 80,000 New York businesses may not make it to the end of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, mostly as a result of Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) rigid economic lockdowns.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
New York Will Spend $2.1 Billion to Give $15,600 Checks to Illegal Immigrants
Taxpayer-funded direct payments divide Dems
New York is set to spend $2.1 billion on direct payments of up to $15,600 to illegal immigrants who lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats in the state legislature approved the "excluded workers fund" as part of the state's $212 billion budget on Tuesday. Roughly 92,000 illegal immigrants are eligible to receive a one-time payment of $15,600 through the program, while hundreds of thousands of others will receive $3,200, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
The move comes after national Democrats failed on their promise to send $2,000 checks to legal Americans, instead settling for $1,400.
The fund has caused turmoil among state Democrats, as five Democrats voted against the budget in the state senate. Progressive lawmakers have since accused moderate Democrats of racism for expressing concern with the taxpayer-funded provision. Brooklyn state senator Jabari Brisport, a self-described socialist who has compared capitalism to slavery, said Monday that he would no longer work with Democratic legislators who "enable racists" by opposing the fund.
New York Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs admonished Brisport, calling the accusations of racism "wrong, plain and simple."
"To assume that one's political disagreement with spending any amount of money—no less $2.1 billion—on a program to give undocumented, non-taxpaying, off-the-book workers a humanitarian grant is motivated by racism and not economics is unjustified, uncalled for, unfair, and unbecoming of any public official elected in a democratic system that survives on the decency of civil public discourse," Jacobs said.
Liberal activists protested outside of Governor Andrew Cuomo's office in the days leading up to the budget passage. The embattled Democratic governor praised the fund for its "compassion" during a Wednesday press conference.
In order to receive the $15,600 payment, illegal immigrants must prove that they reside in the state, are not eligible for federal unemployment due to their legal status, and lost income during the pandemic. New York Rep. Lee Zeldin (R.), who announced a gubernatorial run Thursday, criticized the fund for prioritizing "ex cons" and "illegal immigrants" over "hard working" New Yorkers in a Monday tweet.
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