A Judge Ruled The Trump Administration Must Face A Lawsuit Over Denying Coronavirus Checks To Undocumented Parents – By Zoe Tillman (Buzzfeed) / June 22 2020
US citizen children filed a lawsuit after Congress restricted CARES Act relief money to individuals with Social Security numbers, excluding undocumented immigrants.
WASHINGTON — A lawsuit filed by US citizen children whose undocumented immigrant parents were denied coronavirus stimulus checks can move forward after a judge rejected the Trump administration’s early attempt to get the case tossed out.
A federal judge in Maryland on Friday denied the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, finding the families had the standing to sue and rejecting arguments raised by the Justice Department that the administration was immune against these types of constitutional claims over how Congress and the Treasury Department chose to administer billions of dollars in relief money.
Under the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, families who are eligible for stimulus checks can get up to $500 for each child under 17, on top of the $1,200 maximum payment for individual adults. But the law requires anyone receiving the money to have a Social Security number. Undocumented immigrants who aren’t authorized to work can still file taxes using a separate identification number, but Congress didn’t make them eligible for the relief funds.
The parents at issue paid federal and state taxes, and would otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, according to the lawsuit filed in May in federal court in Maryland. The parents and their kids, who are all named as plaintiffs, argue denying a federal benefit to these children is unconstitutional because they’re being discriminated against and treated differently from other US citizen children.
The ruling means lawyers for the families can begin seeking records and other evidence from the administration.
Continue to article: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/lawsuit-citizen-kids-undocumented-parents-coronavirus?origin=shp
