In Outrageous COVID Statement, AOC Publicly Puts Illegals on Par with Americans for Payments
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York accused President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers of cutting checks to Americans off the backs of “taxpaying immigrants” in the “phase 3” coronavirus economic relief bill.
She also made the astonishing and outright false claim that corporations are benefiting more than average workers.
Trump signed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act into law on Friday afternoon, which among other provisions calls for $1,200 direct payment for most American adults and $500 for children.
So the typical family of four will receive $3,400. The amount of the payments decreases and then phases out completely for those earning over certain income thresholds.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Thursday, “To clarify, $1200 checks are ONLY going to some w/social sec numbers, NOT immigrants w/ tax IDs (ITINs).
To clarify, $1200 checks are ONLY going to some w/social sec numbers, NOT immigrants w/ tax IDs (ITINs).
Thanks to GOP, these checks will be cut off the backs of *taxpaying immigrants,* who get nothing. Many are essential workers who pay more taxes than Amazon.
Wall St gets $4T
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2020
“Thanks to GOP, these checks will be cut off the backs of *taxpaying immigrants,* who get nothing. Many are essential workers who pay more taxes than Amazon. Wall St gets $4T,” she added.
Where to begin? The congresswoman plays so fast and loose with the truth.
The checks do go to legal immigrants, i.e. those with green cards, as well as the hundreds of thousands of people in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, because they have legal status too, the Miami Herald reported.
Illegal aliens, or as the left likes to say, undocumented immigrants, will not receive checks.
And truthfully, that seems fair. If you don’t follow the nation’s immigration laws, there is a price to pay: You don’t get all the benefits of being a citizen or a green card holder.
While it is true that illegal aliens pay state and local taxes and in many cases federal Social Security and income taxes, they are also receiving many of the benefits of being citizens — i.e. roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.
The United States allows over 1 million people to legally immigrate into the country per year. No other country even comes close. America is a generous land, but there are limits.
Further, it is not clear that illegal aliens pay more in taxes than Amazon.
AOC obviously means collectively, because according to the online giant, in 2019 it paid over $1 billion in federal income tax, more than $2.4 billion in other federal taxes (including payroll taxes and customs duties), and over $1.6 billion in state and local taxes.
Additionally, thanks to being in business, “Amazon collected and remitted nearly $9 billion in sales and use taxes to states and localities throughout the U.S.”
In another tweet, AOC alleged that Trump and GOP senators held “hospitals, working people, and the vulnerable hostage so they could get in $500 billion (that will be leveraged into $4T) in corporate welfare.”
“Without the Wall St giveaway, GOP refuses to fund hospitals & unemployment. It’s inhumane,” the congresswoman declared.
What Trump + Senate GOP have done is hold hospitals, working people, and the vulnerable hostage so they could get in $500 billion (that will be leveraged into $4T) in corporate welfare.
Without the Wall St giveaway, GOP refuses to fund hospitals & unemployment. It’s inhumane.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2020
In the legislation Trump signed Friday, $300 billion goes in direct payments to Americans.
An additional, $260 billion goes to enhanced unemployment benefits, so workers including those in the gig economy get 100 percent of what they were earning when they lost their jobs.
Another $350 billion goes to small businesses employing 500 or less as loans they do not have to pay back if they keep their workers on the job at least until the end of June.
So in other words, it’s designed to help employers be able to make payroll so they do not need to lay people off.
All these provisions are to the benefit of American workers and families.
There is $153 billion going directly to hospitals and other public health needs to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, $500 billion will go to large corporations like Boeing, and airline carriers, in the form of loans and grants, to keep them afloat through this challenging economic time. However, they must pay back the loans to the government with interest.
In other words, the large corporations are receiving money with significant strings attached.
As is so often the case with AOC, she communicated in half-truths and outright falsehoods, in this instance about the coronavirus legislation.
Americans, not illegal aliens, are the ones who should, and thankfully will, receive payments from the federal treasury.
No one should be rewarded for breaking our nation’s laws.
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