Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Todd Young (R-IN) proposed an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget that will likely block the inclusion of stimulus checks for illegal aliens in any Chinese coronavirus relief package.
“The Biden administration shouldn’t reward illegal immigrants for breaking our laws by giving them checks,” Cotton said in a statement. “Instead of courting foreigners with U.S. taxpayer funds, President Biden should use that money to aid American schools, businesses, and families.”
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) sent Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans an email urging them to support the Cotton-Young amendment.
The vote is critical for President Joe Biden’s administration because it shows the lack of support in the Senate Democrat caucus for pro-illegal immigration policies — and potentially a DREAM Act-style amnesty — specifically among those who represent swing states and will be up for re-election in 2022 and 2024.
Hassan, for instance, is up for re-election in 2022. During her last election, she barely unseated then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) with only about 1,000 votes separating the two.
Likewise, Sinema, Stabenow, Manchin, and Tester are all up for re-election in 2024. Many of their vote margins in their 2018 Senate runs were small. Tester, for example, won against Republican Matt Rosendale by less than 18,000 while Manchin won re-election by less than 19,400 votes.
