A group of illegal immigrants with children who were born in the US are suing the federal government because they did not get checks from the stimulus package.
The Georgetown University law school’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of the group in Maryland’s federal district court on Tuesday.
They claim that their exclusion is a violation of the Constitution.
“The refusal to distribute this benefit to U.S. citizen children undermines the CARES Act’s goal of providing assistance to Americans in need, frustrates the Act’s efforts to jumpstart the economy, and punishes citizen children for their parents’ status — punishment that is particularly nonsensical given that undocumented immigrants, collectively, pay billions of dollars each year in taxes,” their lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit alleges that their children, who were born in the US, are being “punished” because their parents are illegal immigrants.
In order to receive funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided $1,200 for adults and $500 for each child, the person needs to have a Social Security number, something you only have if you are a US citizen.
Norma claims she lost her job at a restaurant and can’t get any money because she is not a citizen.
“I have lost my job, and in my home three adults have the coronavirus; none of us are working,” one of the plaintiffs, identified only as “Norma” said in a statement released through her lawyers. “My son is an American citizen, and we need him to receive the CARES Act benefit to provide food and a roof over his head until this difficult moment passes.”
The lawsuit argues denying relief money to children of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment “because the children are being discriminated against and treated differently from other US citizen children.”
