Coronavirus: LA-Area Woman Sues Trump After Being Denied Stimulus Payment Over Husband's Immigration Status
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A Los Angeles-area woman filed suit against President Donald Trump and his administration Wednesday, alleging she was unfairly excluded from the nationwide stimulus check disbursement due to her husband's immigration status.
According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Jane Doe is described as a United States citizen who earns less than $75,000 in adjusted gross income, whose children are also U.S. citizens and who has no mechanism to appeal the government's decision.
The plaintiff claims that she was excluded from the government's $2 trillion coronavirus financial relief package because the CARES Act requires both spouses filing their taxes jointly to have Social Security numbers in order for any member of the family, including children, to be eligible for the payments.
The plaintiff said that she files her taxes jointly with her immigrant spouse, who does not have a Social Security number and uses an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
"But for her spouse lacking a Social Security number, plaintiff Doe would have received a stimulus check for herself and her children under the CARES Act," the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court alleged. "Had plaintiff not been married to an immigrant with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, plaintiff and her children would have otherwise qualified for a stimulus check. There is no mechanism by which plaintiff can dispute the government's decision to deny her a stimulus check."
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The complaint contends that the Trump administration violated the woman's constitutional rights, including the right to due process and equal protection under the law. It further alleges that the government failed to treat her as equal to other citizens "based solely on whom she chose to marry."
The lawsuit is seeking a declaration that the CARES Act regulation that prohibits stimulus checks to more than 1.2 million Americans married to immigrants who lack Social Security numbers is unconstitutional.
The plaintiff is also seeking an injunction amending the act and stopping the government from enacting any new terms to the CARES Act, or subsequent legislation aimed at providing economic stimulus to citizens, that excludes mixed immigration status families.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
