Business Leaders to Congress: Americans Should Get a Stimulus Check Regardless of Who They Married or Are Parented by
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: Hiram Soto | (858) 349-7940 | hsoto@americanbic.biz
DALLAS, TX — As Congress and the White House work to secure a consensus on another coronavirus relief package amid surging Covid cases and a slowing economy, the need to include direct checks as part of any relief package is more important than ever. That’s why today the American Business Immigration Coalition is urging members of Congress from both parties to make sure that any stimulus checks that make it to a final relief bill reach all Americans that qualify, regardless of who they married or are parented by.
In the spring, the federal government sent $1200 in stimulus checks to individuals but excluded almost 2 million Americans because their spouse or parents are non-citizens. These U.S. citizens include mothers of small children, retired Marines, essential healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID, people fighting cancer, and more. A fix to this injustice exists in the House’s Heroes Act, Senator Marco Rubio’s S 4071 and a Problem Solver Caucus‘ proposal.
If you’re interested in interviewing U.S. citizens impacted by this, please email hsoto@americanbic.biz or call 858 349 7940.
“Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past by denying stimulus checks to Americans simply because of who they married or parented by. Fortunately, with negotiations taking place in Congress on a new stimulus bill, we can now correct this wrong. Including mixed status families would inject $2 billion into their local economies, helping small businesses and families stay afloat during these difficult times. Let’s put partisanship aside and put families and our economy first,” said Mike Fernandez, MBF Healthcare Partners Chairman & ABIC Co-Chair.
“As emphasized by Senator Rubio in a virtual town hall with ABIC ‘If you can vote and you can fight for your country, then that should also entitle you to the same rights and obligations that citizens at large have.’ As a lifelong Republican voter and donor, I cannot agree more, especially when the only alternative for those citizens left behind would be divorcing their spouse. That would be an absurd ask. The continued exclusion of U.S. citizen spouses and children from federal coronavirus relief is morally wrong, economically harmful, and politically foolish,” —John Rowe, Exelon Corporation Chairman Emeritus and & ABIC Co-Chair.
“I’ve had a really hard time paying the electric bill, mortgage and groceries. We were counting on the $1,200 stimulus check (in the spring) to make ends meet. I’m asking members of Congress not to forget about me and my family. We have always paid our fair share of taxes, and our family’s sacrifices on behalf of our country should not be forgotten simply because of the man I married,” said Clara Discua, a U.S. citizen battling cancer and mother to a disabled U.S. Veteran who served in Afghanistan. Her family was not eligible for a stimulus payment because her husband, originally from Honduras, uses his ITIN when filing taxes jointly.
About
The American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) promotes commonsense immigration reform that advances economic competitiveness, provides companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.