Unanimous Consent Request--S. 842

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the exchange which took place between myself and the junior Senator from Texas has been analyzed from many different directions. The conclusion of CNN based on what he said on the floor and I responded to is as follows:

Cruz said ``every illegal alien in America'' would get a $1,400 check. Durbin responded that Cruz's statement is ``just plain false'' because, he said, ``Undocumented immigrants do not have Social Security numbers, and they do not qualify for stimulus relief checks, period.''

According to CNN:

They were both wrong. Cruz was inaccurate when he said ``every'' undocumented immigrant will get a $1,400 relief check.

Then they go on to say there are people, a discrete class of people, who might have a Social Security number, be undocumented, and receive a check. And because of the clarification and my own investigation afterwards, I will concede their point. I overstated my case.

Here is what it boils down to. In this situation, people have applied for a work visa--not a tourist visa, a work visa to come to the United States. Because of that work visa, they also received a Social Security number. Then they overstayed their visas and still could continue-- could possibly continue--to be on the rolls with their Social Security number and receive a check.

I might quickly add, this was a provision that was included in both of the relief bills for COVID-19 signed into law by President Trump, one of which the Senator from Texas voted for, one of which he did not.

So I would ask, how many people are we talking about? Ten? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? I can't find out. They can't give me the number because there isn't a calculation.

So here is the situation. You had to apply for a work visa, be granted the work visa and come to the United States, get a Social Security number, overstay your visa, and then continue to file income tax returns because that is the only way you could qualify for help through these relief packages.

I don't know if that group is ten or a hundred or a thousand, but I have carefully read the provisions that are offered by the Senator from Texas today, and I will tell you he basically says to the American Government, when it comes to cash payments: Stop the presses. Stop the presses. I want to know who these people are, and I don't want you to send them a check.

I don't believe that is reasonable. We have sent out 90 million checks. To stop this while we go through this debate is, I think, unfair.

I don't want these checks to go to people who do not qualify for them any more than he does, but I am not going to stop the issuance of checks to people living in Texas or Illinois in the meantime.

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