New York and DC Resist “Stimulus” Money For Illegal Aliens…For Now

By David Jaroslav | FAIR Take | May 2020

While open-borders advocates are clamoring for state and local governments to give so-called stimulus payments and other benefits to illegal aliens, two sanctuary jurisdictions have resisted – New York State and the District of Columbia. 

New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has repeatedly said that the Empire State “has no money.”  In fact, Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget this year actually cut $10 million in preexisting funding from the state’s deportation legal defense program, although it was later restored at the open-borders groups’ insistence.

However, when it comes to any new taxpayer funding for illegal aliens, whether in the form of stimulus payments or expanded unemployment insurance benefits or other programs, Cuomo has ruled it out, except “[i]If we get some state funding through the federal government.”

The governor’s opposition appears to have come as a surprise to some illegal aliens and their supporters, particularly after he signed last year’s “Green Light Law” which allowed them to get driver’s license. Unsurprisingly, they’ve reacted with outrage to the Governor’s decision not to provide them with benefits.  They say they’re being “sacrificed” and they are calling New York’s failure to follow California “a really sad moment … in … a supposedly progressive state.”

To date, no bills have been introduced to create new benefits for illegal aliens in New York.  Knowing the state legislature, however, it’s probably only a matter of time.  Given the governor’s current opposition, such legislation would be unlikely to pass unless open-borders groups can sway him to change his mind.

Washington, DC

The District of Columbia has for many years provided benefits to illegal aliens through sanctuary policies and other benefits.  It is therefore surprising that the DC Council has ignored opportunities to extend new financial benefits to illegal aliens during the Coronavirus pandemic.

On April 7, when it passed DC’s first COVID-19 emergency relief bill, the council considered but ultimately decided against cash assistance to illegal aliens.  Its second emergency bill, passed May 6, likewise left such proposals out.

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who has been a longtime supporter of programs to benefit illegal aliens in the past, says “[w]e cannot meet the need for every individual and every business with only District funds.” Additionally, her proposed budget doesn’t call for any new payment programs for those living in the District illegally. 

Nonetheless, open-borders groups see DC’s upcoming budget process as still an opportunity to apply pressure to council members and the mayor.