Tom Cotton leads push to bar federal funding to localities financing illegal immigrants

Sen. Tom Cotton is seeking to restrict federal funding to local governments giving out benefits to illegal immigrants, arguing that citizens should get priority during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, the Arkansas Republican introduced the No Bailouts for Illegal Aliens Act, which would amend the American Rescue Plan Act to make states and localities ineligible for funds until they certify they’re not offering benefits to those residing in the country illegally.

“Some local governments are offering illegal immigrants thousands of dollars for jobs they lost during the pandemic — jobs that belong to Americans in the first place. The federal government shouldn’t subsidize state efforts to send cash to illegal immigrants,” Cotton said in a statement.

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Cotton introduced a similar version of the bill in May of 2020 during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent funds from the first economic relief bill from going to illegal immigrants.

Cotton’s new proposal follows the recent passage of a $212 billion budget deal by the New York Legislature that would provide up to $15,600 in relief to illegal residents, which marked the largest fund of its kind in the country.

The state’s excluded workers fund is estimated to help almost 300,000 workers without legal status.

New York Democrats largely praised the measure, which passed after activists led hunger strikes and protests on behalf of the proposed relief to illegal immigrants.

“We’re fighting for the dignity of all people,” Assembly Member Carmen De La Rosa told the Journal News. “We’re fighting xenophobia in New York state. We’re fighting the notion that the haves are better than the have-nots.”

Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, slammed the package.

“NY needed to be bailed out in the Biden-Schumer-Pelosi ‘stimulus’ package, and now they turn around and give the American taxpayer money to illegal aliens instead of Americans. The Socialist Dems show time and time again where their true priorities lie,” Brooks tweeted.

Several people residing in the United States illegally expressed relief over the passage of the package. A construction worker in upstate New York who lost his job during the pandemic and asked to be identified only by his first name, Nelson, said the financial assistance was poignant for him.

“We’re survivors of the virus, and we are only here because other people helped us out,” the father of three from Honduras told the New York Times.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James is reviewing the package to ensure its constitutionality, saying that it is a duty in line with her office’s traditional role.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed by President Joe Biden in March. It was the third major coronavirus-related package passed by Congress, and it included $1,400 stimulus checks for people making below $75,000.