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Dear Judicial
Watch Supporter,
I want to personally share with you a press release that was just sent to
members of the media. As always, Judicial Watch is fighting on your behalf
in Washington D.C. against government corruption and abuse. Thank you
for standing with Judicial Watch--you don’t want to miss this!
Sincerely,
Amelia Koehn
Public Affairs Coordinator |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-646-5188
April 30, 2020
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Judicial Watch Sues California to Stop
Governor Newsom’s Initiative to Provide $75 Million in Cash Benefits to
Illegal Aliens
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced itfiled
a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California County of Los
Angeles on behalf of two California taxpayers, Robin Crest and Howard
Myers, asking the court to stop the state from expending $75 million of
taxpayer funds to provide direct cash assistance to unlawfully present
aliens (Crest
et al. v. Newsom et al. (No. 20STCV16321)). The lawsuit
alleges California Governor Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority and
violated federal law when, without affirmative state legislative approval,
he took executive action to create the “Disaster Relief Assistance for
Immigrants Project” and provide cash benefits to illegal aliens who
otherwise are ineligible for state or federal insurance or other benefits
due to their unlawful presence in the United States.
On April 15, 2020, Governor Newsom announced his new executive initiative
to provide direct assistance in the form of cash benefits to illegal
aliens. The initiative, known as the “Disaster Relief Fund” or the
“Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants Project,” would spend $75
million to provide direct cash payments to illegal aliens and cost an
estimated additional $4.8 million to administer. Governor Newsom’s
executive initiative would provide one-time cash benefits of $500 per
adult / $1,000 per household to 150,000 unlawfully present aliens in
California. These benefits are not provided to U.S. citizens residing in
the state.
Under federal immigration law, 8 U.S.C. § 1621(a), unlawfully present
aliens generally are ineligible for State or local public benefits. Section
1621(d) requires a state legislature to enact a state law which
affirmatively provides for such benefits for illegal aliens:
A State may provide that an alien who is not lawfully present in the
United States is eligible for any State or local public benefit … only
through the enactment of a State law … which affirmatively provides for
such eligibility.
The lawsuit alleges that the California State Legislature has not enacted
any law that affirmatively provides that unlawfully present aliens are
eligible for the $75 million of cash public benefits announced by
Newsom.
The lawsuit seeks to enjoin California “from providing $75 million of
taxpayer funds to unlawfully present aliens in violation of federal law and
expending an estimated additional $4.8 million of taxpayer funds as well as
additional taxpayer-financed resources on the administration of those
payments.”
“Governor Newsom has no legal authority on his own to spend state
taxpayer money for cash payments to illegal aliens,” said Judicial Watch
President Tom Fitton. “The coronavirus challenge doesn’t give
politicians a pass to violate the law. If California politicians want to
give cash payments to illegal aliens, they must be accountable and
transparent, and, as federal law requires, pass a law to do so.”
###
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