Two New Jersey senators have introduced a bill that would provide for a one-time relief payment for people who use an individual taxpayer identification number to file their taxes, to help undocumented immigrants amid the pandemic.
Taxpayers with at least one child would receive $1,000; married taxpayers filing jointly without a child would receive $700; and other eligible taxpayers would receive $500, according to a draft of S. 2480, introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore M. Teresa Ruiz (D) and Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D)
In a May 11 release, Ruiz said that undocumented immigrants were "intentionally carved out of the federal stimulus package and cannot access unemployment insurance, despite paying into it."
“New Jersey’s undocumented immigrants contribute nearly $600 million in state and local taxes, in addition to their federal tax contributions, but still they are not receiving any help right now," Ruiz added.
Taxpayers who filed a gross income tax return in New Jersey for tax years 2018 or 2019 would be eligible. The application deadline to receive payment would be December 31, 2020.
A class action lawsuit filed May 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and the United States alleges that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act discriminates against the children of undocumented immigrants by only issuing economic impact payments to people who pay their taxes with a Social Security number.
The suit explains that undocumented immigrants typically can’t get a Social Security number and instead pay their taxes using an ITIN. Therefore, they can’t get the $500 economic impact payments intended for children under the CARES Act.
The senators said their bill would set aside $35 million for the program, which could help up to 35,000 residents. Families with children would be prioritized first. Noting that the bill would only help 25 percent of ITIN filers, Ruiz said the legislation "provides New Jersey the opportunity to step in and begin to help where the federal government has failed.”
"If we are going to discuss reopening New Jersey we must have an honest conversation about how this crisis has impacted our immigrant community. They work in every industry and in every region of our state," Ruiz said.
California, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington have also taken steps to provide financial help for ITIN filers, according to the release.
The text of the bill was not available as of press time.