What Is A Stimulus Check
The United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have distributed economic impact payments, otherwise known as stimulus checks, to eligible recipients to reduce the financial damage inflicted by the Covid-19 outbreak.
The initial payment granted eligible individuals $1,200 and married couples who file a joint tax return $2,400, plus $500 extra for each additional child under 16.
The second payments were limited to just $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples, and $600 for each additional child.
The new stimulus checks will be worth $1,400 for individuals, $2,800 for couples, and an additional $1,400 for each dependent you claim on your tax return.
Murderers Undocumented Immigrants: Hyped
Dylann Roof murdered nine people. Hes on federal death row. Hell be getting a $1,400 stimulus check as part of the Democrats COVID relief bill.
With this bill, theyre going to people in prison, theyre going to people who are illegal immigrants.
Sen. John Barrasso , in an interview on NBCs Meet the Press, March 7
This 2021 fact check has been updated with a new Pinocchio rating
Every Senate bill that proceeds on a fast-track process known as reconciliation features a strange ritual called vote-a-rama, as lawmakers race through a number of votes on amendments. If you are in the minority, as Republicans are now, its a moment when you can offer finely tuned amendments that are destined to fail but will serve up red meat for voters in later elections.
These quotes are an example of this process in action, with Cotton tweeting a talking point just hours after the coronavirus stimulus bill was approved. Cotton isnt shy about his intentions either. On March 8, he tweeted that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston bomber, would also get benefits and declared, Get ready for campaign ads.
But for all the hype, theres less to these claims than one might imagine particularly because the previous stimulus bills passed last year under GOP control also did not bar payments to prisoners and the small subset of undocumented immigrants referenced by Barrasso.
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History Of Coronavirus Relief Packages In The Us
The first legislation package, signed at the end of March 2020, was called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act . One part of the act has authorized payments to U.S. citizens and residents through Economic Impact Payments.
The IRS, or Internal Revenue Service, sent Economic Impact Payments to qualifying individuals, and there was no need to apply. Americans were eligible to receive up to $1,200 per person, $2,400 for those filing joint tax returns and $500 for each qualifying minor child in the household.
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How Much Money Should F1 Visa Holders Expect From Their Stimulus Check
Depending on your situation, you will receive a specific amount of money. For instance, most people should receive a $1,200 payment, but married couples will get $2,400 as long as they do not depend on another taxpayer and they also have a valid SSN. The adjusted gross income should be up to:
- For individuals $75,000
- For the head of household filers $112,500
- For married couples that file joint returns $150,000
Meanwhile, taxpayers will get a reduced payment if they have an AGI between:
- $75,000 and $99,000 for people who file single or file separately if married
- $112,500 and $136,500 for the head of household
- $150,000 and $198,000 for people whose filing status was married filing jointly
Who Is Eligible For The Third Stimulus Check

In general, US citizens and resident aliens who were not claimed as a dependent on someones income tax returns are eligible. Eligibility is based on your most recent tax return, meaning it would be based on your 2019 tax return if you havent submitted for 2020 yet, and 2020 if you have submitted already.
Individual tax filers who have a yearly gross income of $75,000 or less and meet the above requirements will receive a check, while married couples who filed together are eligible if their combined yearly gross income is $150,000 or less.
Individuals who earn at least $80,000/year or couples who earn $160,000/year or more will not be eligible.
Those whose gross incomes are between those amounts will receive checks for reduced amounts for every $1,000 above the threshold.
Residents who are not legally required to file taxes, usually Social Security recipients, will also still receive a check.
Another big difference is how much you will receive for each dependent you claim on your taxes. You will now receive an extra $1,400 per dependent child regardless of their age.
Previously, children had to be 16 or under, which excluded many college students, for example, who were still being claimed on their parents tax return. The new rule will allow you to even claim elderly dependents.
However, if you earn above the income threshold , you will NOT be eligible for an additional payment for ANY dependent.
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Immigrants Without Social Security Numbers Are Not Eligible For Stimulus Checks
CLAIM: Illegal aliens will receive a $1,400 stimulus check through the COVID-19 relief bill.
APS ASSESSMENT: Partly false. The vast majority of immigrants without lawful status in the U.S. do not have Social Security numbers and cannot receive a $1,400 stimulus check. A small number of people who entered the U.S. on a temporary work visa and were issued Social Security numbers may be able to receive a payment, even if they overstayed their visas.
THE FACTS: On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed victory as Congress approved a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which would provide many Americans with a direct $1,400 payment based on income.
Several misleading claims swirled online as to who would receive the payment. One Facebook post stated: Illegal aliens will receive $1400 stimulus checks.
But in fact, the COVID-19 relief package excludes most immigrants in the country without legal permission, as did the two previous packages that passed under the Trump administration.
For the most part, no unauthorized immigrants will receive the $1,400 stimulus payments, said Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in an email to The Associated Press. In order to receive a payment, someone must have a valid Social Security number issued by the Social Security Administration.
What Are Illegal Refugees
A Facebook page posted an image with the caption, Illegal Refugees get $3,874/mo. under the Federal Assistance Program. Our SS checks are approximately $1,200/mo.
This post has received over 3.3K likes and more than 100K shares. The page in question appears to be in support of President Trump.
The comments to this post are in a similar vein.
Most comments contain angry rhetoric against immigrants in the U.S. There are also those who explain their financial troubles stemming from a meager social security check.
However, it would be wrong to target immigrants on account of this post, simply because its false. And the reasons are many.
For starters, the opening line mentions illegal refugees. That, in itself, is a clear misnomer.
Theres no such thing as an illegal refugee. Refugees are people displaced from their home countries for multiple reasons and seek asylum in another country. Refugee status is protection granted by the state to displaced people.
To gain this status, the immigrant must go through a refugee status determination process. Every country has its own system to grant refugee status to an individual or a group, and it is legal protection.
It can be said that the contentious Facebook post is referring to immigrants in the U.S. in general. But it doesnt make it any less false.
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Undocumented Immigrants Others Excluded Can Soon Apply For State Covid
Undocumented immigrants and other New Jersey residents who werent eligible for state or federal pandemic assistance will soon be able to apply for relief. The state Department of Human Services has launched a website where residents can learn about the $40 million Excluded New Jerseyans Fund and check to see if theyre eligible for direct, one-time cash payments.
Households with an annual income of up to $55,000 must prove they werent able to get federal stimulus checks or unemployment benefits and must show lost income due to COVID-19. Eligible households will receive a benefit of up to $1,000 per eligible individual, with a maximum of $2,000 per household. but immigration advocates argue the fund will only help a small fraction of the states roughly 500,000 undocumented immigrants.
This report has been updated to clarify the benefit per household is a maximum of $2,000.
Illegal Aliens Will Not Be Eligible For Stimulus Cash And Thats Unfair Complain Advocates
One of the biggest surprises of the House version of the Coronavirus stimulus bill was what was not buried in the 1,400 pages of legislative jargon. The bill included all sorts of woke provisions that had nothing to do with throwing a lifeline to struggling American workers or preventing an economic meltdown, for which congressional Democrats took some well-deserved ridicule. But conspicuously absent were any provisions that would ensure that the lefts most favored constituency, illegal aliens, would be eligible for government relief checks.
The bill headed for the presidents desk,thankfully, is the more sober Senate version that includes many fewer specialinterest giveaways and is much lighter on the wokeness. And, it will stillexclude illegal aliens from partaking in the $2 trillion that will be pumpedinto the economy a condition that is not sitting well with the Democratsfar left base.
Breene and otheradvocates, as the headline of his column asserts, falsely equate taxpayers withcitizens. They are not the same. Paying taxes is a transactional relationshipwith society citizenship indicates that one is a full member of the politicalcommunity subject to the rights, but also the duties, that come with thatstatus. Or, as Thomas Jefferson eloquently stated in the Declaration ofIndependence, citizenship entails that we mutually pledge to each other our lives, ourfortunes and our sacred honor. He said nothing about paying taxes.
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Im Not A Citizen Will I Still Receive A Stimulus Check
It depends. This is where it gets a little more tricky.
Only immigrants with Social Security numbers living and working in the United States can receive a stimulus check. This includes resident aliens, green card holders, DACA-recipients, and workers with H-1B and H-2A visas.
If your citizenship status has changed since the first or second stimulus check, you will have to make sure you update your status with the IRS.
Resources For People Still Trying To File Their Taxes
If you havent filed your taxes yet or are looking to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, there are several options still available. When filing, you can let your preparer know you have not received your Golden State Stimulus check yet.
The IRS is still accepting ITIN applications. The agency website says that it takes about seven weeks for an applicant to receive one.
There are a few organizations in the Bay Area that still offer free tax aid, as well as help applying for an ITIN .
Alameda County:
- San Antonio CDC offers appointments and drop-off filing services all year round except during July and December holidays. Assistance is available in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin. Appointments are usually available from Monday through Friday. Call 536-5179 to set up a time.
Contra Costa County:
- SparkPoint/Bay Point Works ECC starts offering drop-off filing services and ITIN assistance starting June 2. Support is available in English and Spanish. Before dropping off, call 252-2331 after 9:30 a.m.
San Francisco:
- Mission Economic Development Agency will offer both walk-ins and appointments for assistance in the ITIN process in English and Spanish. Call 612-2014 to check availability.
- The Chinese Newcomers Service Center offers virtual appointments in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese. Call 421-2111 to make an appointment from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Solano County:
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Millions Of Immigrants Known To Be In The Us Illegally Are Nonetheless Issued Social Security Numbers And Given Money
National Review, March 29, 2021
During the debate over the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Senator Dick Durbin claimed that undocumented immigrants do not have Social Security numbers, and they do not qualify for stimulus relief checks, period. He was wrong on both counts.
Millions of illegal immigrants do have Social Security numbers , and they will receive billions of dollars in stimulus money. But leave the money aside for now and consider the more basic problem: The U.S. government has chosen to issue SSNs to millions of people who are not even supposed to be in the country. Its a clear indication that America is simply not serious about enforcing its immigration laws.
To be clear, the illegal immigrants given work authorization are not guest workers they are not green-card holders they are not tourists. They are illegal aliens who, under the current system, are still given work authorization and Social Security numbers, year after year after year. This allows them to receive cash payments such as the Earned Income Tax Credit , the Additional Child Tax Credit, and COVID-19 relief checks. If none of this makes sense to you, then you are at least beginning to understand how our immigration system works.
All together, an estimated 2.65 million illegal aliens have an SSN that allows them to get COVID relief checks. Based on the incomes and numbers of dependents found in this population, close to 80 percent will likely receive checks, at a total cost of $4.4 billion.
Before The Pandemic I Always Had Work

“The first thing I’m going to do is to pay my back rent,” Rubi Correa, who has been out of work since last spring, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Correa, 48, typically cleans houses and babysits on Staten Island in New York City. But the 48-year-old has been out of work since the coronavirus struck last spring. She said she has supported herself by going “from food pantry to food pantry” and now owes several months’ worth of rent.
“Before the pandemic, I always had work, but it’s very difficult to have a job now,” said Correa, who was one of more than 70 workers who went on a hunger strike to pressure New York State to pass the bill.
Sixta Leon, a 58-year-old housekeeper, turned to collecting cans and bottles during the pandemic. Like Correa, Leon lost all her cleaning work last spring she has recently gone back to working one day a week.
“When they told us the news that we had won I began to cry of happiness. I just thought of the many people that are going to get help,” said Leon, who has lived in the U.S. for 33 years.
Immigrant communities are overrepresented in the frontline workforce. In New York, one-fifth of undocumented workers are in the hard-hit food service and accommodation sector. Another fifth work in retail or health care, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
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Package Excludes Most Immigrants Not Legally In Usa
Biden’s COVID-19 relief package excludes most immigrants who aren’t in the U.S. legally from receiving stimulus checks, just like the relief packages enacted during the Trump administration.
The text of the legislation, regarding payments to individuals, reads, “For purposes of this section, the term eligible individual means any individual other than any nonresident alien individual …”
The Internal Revenue Service defines a nonresident alien as “any individual who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national. A nonresident alien is an alien who has not passed the green card test or the substantial presence test.”
Only noncitizens who have been authorized to work by the Department of Homeland Security can get a Social Security number, which is required to work and collect Social Security benefits, as well as other government services.
Fact check:Some states with GOP governors did have mask mandates
However, according to the Associated Press, some people who entered the U.S. on valid temporary working visas which would have made them eligible for a Social Security number may be eligible for the stimulus check, even if they overstayed their visas.
Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told AP that “for the most part, no unauthorized immigrants will receive the $1,400 stimulus payments” because recipients must have valid Social Security numbers.
Fact Check: Will Millions Of Illegal Immigrants Get Stimulus Checks As Ted Cruz Says
Senator Ted Cruz proposed an amendment to the American Rescue Plan that would bar illegal immigrants from access to the $1,400 stimulus checks.
His amendment was voted down after Senator Dick Durbin criticized Cruz for trying to “rile people up over something that is not true.”
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Areas Of Possible Error In This Analysis
Some Data Is Not Current. First, the data used to estimate the income and characteristics of illegal immigrants is from the 2018 American Community Survey, and conditions could have changed somewhat since then. Second, while some number of illegal immigrants have used stolen IDs in 2021, neither the SSA, whose estimates we used, nor any other federal agency of which we are aware, has published a newer estimate than the one SSA put out in 2013.
Those with Stolen IDs. As of this writing, we know very little about the demographics of illegal immigrants with stolen IDs. As a result, we do not have a way to estimate their income and number of dependents, beyond simply assuming that they have the same income and number of dependents as the overall illegal population. We also have not developed a methodology for estimating the characteristics of illegal immigrants in the ACS for aliens with EADs that we refer to as “aliens temporarily present without status under the INA”. It is a relatively eclectic group. Like those with stolen identities, we assume their income and number of dependents are the same as the average illegal immigrant.