Lawsuit Filed Against Trump Administration for Anchor Babies Over Exclusion From Stimulus Relief Program

A lawsuit was filed in Maryland’s US District Court today on behalf of US citizen kids whose parents are illegal immigrants against the Trump administration challenging their exclusion from the Coronavirus stimulus relief bill.

The lawsuit calls the denial “intentional and discriminatory” and lists Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the United States of America as the defendants.

It calls the plaintiffs “one of the country’s most vulnerable groups” and says that “The CARES Act denies these children desperately needed assistance by making the payments through the tax system only to those who are eligible for, and file tax returns using, a social security number—U.S. citizens and immigrants with work authorization.”

“Undocumented immigrants generally cannot obtain social security numbers and instead file their tax returns and pay their taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). Thus, U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants do not receive the benefits of the $500 economic impact payments specifically intended for children. This is true even when the children themselves, like Plaintiffs here, possess their own social security numbers and their parents pay taxes.”

The lawsuit claims that “this discrimination violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.”

One Pro-Trump Twitter user wondered “who can possibly argue that the goal of illegal immigrants isn’t to have an anchor baby and then forever suck the teat of you and me?”

With this lawsuit (shame on @Georgetown and @GeorgetownLaw) who can possibly argue that the goal of illegal immigrants isn’t to have an anchor baby and then forever suck the teat of you and me, the taxpayers?

With this lawsuit (shame on @Georgetown and @GeorgetownLaw) who can possibly argue that the goal of illegal immigrants isn’t to have an anchor baby and then forever suck the teat of you and me, the taxpayers?https://t.co/YFcqmxhD6q

— Indelible Hippocampus ??? (@damian_heron) May 5, 2020

The Georgetown University law school’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection were behind the filing of the lawsuit on behalf of the group.