Undocumented Immigrants Can Get COVID-19, But They Won’t Get CARES Relief

The signing of the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. Photo by Shealah Craighead.

On March 27, President Donald Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In essence, this $2 trillion deal offers relief to the healthcare system and many businesses, as well as cash payments to individuals. In a time of rampant unemployment and economic stagnation resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, these cash payments offer solace to individuals who, as of this moment, are out of work indefinitely and likely struggling to pay rent and feed their families. In order to qualify for the direct payment, however, the beneficiary is required to have a Social Security number. Therefore, for the millions of undocumented workers in America, there will be no such relief.

Undocumented immigrants are no different from the average American citizen in need of groceries, medication, and means of paying rent. Like millions of people in this crisis, their ability to do so has been thwarted, especially because many of the jobs they hold are in hard-hit industries such as service, hospitality, and tourism. There is no data about how many undocumented cooks, dishwashers, waiters, and janitors have lost their jobs thus far. All we have are anecdotes. Many of my undocumented friends have been out of work for weeks. One of them is a bartender at a nightclub that was ordered to close in the middle of March. Another is a babysitter whose job was suspended in an attempt to increase self-isolation measures. Not only can these hourly jobs not be done remotely, but they are often underpaid in the first place. This means that this particular community’s rainy day fund—if it exists at all—is small. While American citizens can rely on unemployment benefits in addition to assistance from the CARES package, undocumented immigrants have no safety net, and yet their day-to-day needs remain the same. 

The skepticism towards including this community in an economic relief package is understandable; undocumented immigrants broke the law by coming to the United States illegally or overstaying their visas. However, COVID-19 and its crippling economic consequences are indifferent to immigration status. The effect of excluding undocumented workers from the CARES Act will not be limited to individuals; the grocery stores, pharmacies, and landlords they support as active participants of the economy will also be shut out of the trickling benefits of a financial boost.

Arguments against including undocumented immigrants in the CARES Act may stem from the fact that they do not pay taxes or that the I.R.S. does not have the information necessary to send direct deposits as needed. However, since 1996, individuals that do not have a Social Security number have been able to pay taxes using an Individual Tax Identification Number. Since then, the Internal Revenue Service has received billions of dollars in tax revenue from I.T.I.N., the vast majority coming from undocumented immigrants. The I.R.S. reported receiving $13.7 billion in taxes from people filing with an I.T.I.N. in 2015 alone. Therefore, if taxpaying is the key to government assistance in this unprecedented crisis, plenty of undocumented immigrants have paid their dues. Moreover, the cash that will be sent to Americans will be assigned according to I.R.S. data. Recipients do not have to sign up for the benefit because the I.R.S. already has their income and bank account information. It is important to realize that including taxpayers with an I.T.I.N. in the CARES Act would not have required any extra steps or added more strain on the system. As with people with Social Security numbers, the I.R.S. already has the information it needs to achieve these efforts. 

The exclusion of undocumented workers from this bill is immoral and out of touch. Regardless of your position on the immigration debate, the reality is that there are millions of undocumented immigrants in this country. They work, pay taxes, support big and small businesses, and—like the rest of the people in the country who have lost their jobs—face an uncertain economic future. In the event that this crisis requires a second relief package, lawmakers should bear in mind that excluding undocumented immigrants will not make them disappear. Indeed, such exclusion affects not only these individuals but also the people and businesses around them. This is not the time to make a statement about a vulnerable community, but an opportunity to observe our system’s shortcomings. Denying undocumented immigrants options to regulate their status, thereby excluding them when they desperately need help, is one such shortcoming. Undocumented immigrants are our employees, patrons, friends, and neighbors and should be treated as such. The first step toward redressing these shortcomings is to ensure undocumented immigrants are included in future relief packages.

Glorimar Marquez is a staff writer at CPR and a Creative Writing major in the School of General Studies. She likes fiction books, non-fiction essays, NPR podcasts, and 90° weather.