A shocking new report found that hundreds of millions of our tax dollars earmarked to help struggling Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic were instead handed out to illegal aliens in Washington state.
$340 million was taken out of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund — a federal aid program — and given to illegals in the form of $1,000 checks, according to a review of the spending by the Economic Policy Innovation Center.
Or perhaps it isn’t so shocking considering that the West Coast is ruled by left-wing Democrats.
Washington received $4.4 billion in total SLFRF funding, according to Fox News, but set aside the $340 million so that illegals could dip their hands into the funds despite being ineligible to receive federal COVID aid.
A report released by state officials last year noted that the cash transfer to the “Immigrant Relief Fund” was approved by the Washington state Legislature in April 2021 to provide “another round of funding for undocumented Washingtonians.”
In essence, the Democrat-dominated state Legislature did an end-run around the rules preventing illegals from getting federal COVID relief funds meant for actual Americans.
The transfer was also approved by the Biden administration, according to EPIC.
“This means the Biden Administration directly subsidized ‘undocumented’ immigration under the guise of COVID-19 pandemic relief,” the organization’s report explained.
Washington enacted a similarly wasteful scheme as the Trump presidency wound down by carving out $128 million for the IRF, handing out $1,000 checks to 122,000 illegal aliens.
Was this an appropriate use of federal COVID funds?
Furthermore, state Democrats engineered the “relief” program to make sure it would not negatively impact a recipient’s application for a green card.
“Even though this check is public assistance, because it is being funneled through a so-called COVID program, it would not constitute welfare in such a way that would prevent someone from receiving a permanent resident card,” EPIC wrote in its report.
The IRF has stopped accepting applications for new payouts, “indicating that the project fund is fully exhausted,” EPIC noted.
The group found similar programs shifting federal pandemic relief funding to illegals in Arizona, Illinois, Texas and other states.
“The [Biden] administration has been actively encouraging illegal immigration by using COVID money from the SLFRF to provide cash assistance, housing, legal aid, and other benefits to undocumented immigrants,” Paul Winfree, president and CEO of EPIC, told Fox.
Winfree added that there is still $120 billion in the SLFRF, much of which will no doubt go toward the factors drawing illegals to this country like bugs to a glowing porch light.
Of course, millions of indigent, jobless and penniless people will flock here if Democrats are going to give them free housing, medical care, education, transportation, legal services and fistfuls of money.
Sadly, this waste is typical of state and federal “pandemic relief” programs, which funneled billions of dollars to left-wing wish list items that had nothing to do with COVID.
In Washington alone, hundreds of millions went to illegals when Americans were struggling to make ends meet because state officials had shut down their jobs and schools.
For Democrats, it truly is America last.
