{"id":1160,"date":"2020-05-05T10:29:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T14:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/?page_id=1160"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:15:23","slug":"new-lawsuit-claims-cares-act-intentionally-discriminates-against-immigrants-by-excluding-u-s-citizen-children-of-immigrant-parents-from-benefits-of-emergency-cash-assistance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/our-press-releases\/new-lawsuit-claims-cares-act-intentionally-discriminates-against-immigrants-by-excluding-u-s-citizen-children-of-immigrant-parents-from-benefits-of-emergency-cash-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"New Lawsuit Claims CARES Act Intentionally Discriminates Against Immigrants by Excluding U.S. Citizen Children of Immigrant Parents from Benefits of Emergency Cash Assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARYLAND, Tuesday, May 5, 2020<\/strong>: Georgetown Law\u2019s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and Villanova Law Professor Leslie Book today filed a complaint<\/a> in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenging<\/a> the intentional and discriminatory exclusion of U.S. citizen children from the benefits of emergency cash assistance distributed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, based solely on the fact that one or both of their parents are undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n

The complaint was filed on behalf of seven U.S. citizen children and with the support of CASA, a D.C.-area immigration non-profit organization. The complaint explains that the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 29, 2020, provides a financial lifeline to millions of people by distributing through the tax system immediate economic impact payments of up to $1,200 per adult and up to $500 for each of the adult\u2019s children under age 17. However, the CARES Act provides payments solely to taxpayers who file their taxes using a Social Security Number \u2013 meaning U.S. citizens and immigrants with work authorization \u2013 thereby denying payments to U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants who pay their taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe refusal to distribute this benefit to U.S. citizen children undermines the CARES Act\u2019s goals of providing assistance to Americans in need, frustrates the Act\u2019s efforts to jumpstart the economy, and punishes citizen children for their parents\u2019 status \u2013 punishment that is particularly nonsensical given that undocumented immigrants, collectively, pay billions of dollars each year in taxes,\u201d said Mary McCord, Legal Director for ICAP. \u201cMore fundamentally, this discrimination violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Fifth Amendment\u2019s Due Process Clause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of CASA\u2019s members in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia \u2013 as well as immigrant families across the country \u2013 have been impacted particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the CARES Act is to help the most vulnerable members of our society during this difficult time,\u201d said Nicholas Katz, CASA\u2019s Senior Manager of Legal Services. \u201cImmigrants make up of almost a fifth of frontline workers during this pandemic. It is an absolute outrage that we are relying on immigrant families to care for our loved ones and provide our essential supplies and yet denying their children the support they are entitled to as U.S. citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that the CARES Act provisions deny U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrant taxpayers the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0 The plaintiffs in this case, brought as a class action on behalf of others like them across the country, are the U.S. citizen children and their parents who have not received the $500 payments specifically intended to benefit children.<\/p>\n

Plaintiff Norma (last name withheld due to security concerns)<\/em> came from Mexico to the U.S. in 2005 and has a son who is a U.S. citizen. She was working in a restaurant in the District of Columbia and lost her job due to the COVID-19 business shutdowns. She lives with her boyfriend who contracted coronavirus 10 days ago. Thus, they have no current income and are getting food from a community center and the school system. Norma\u2019s boyfriend is now living in a room separated from her and the kids, but her brother-in-law and his wife, who live with her, have also contracted the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lost my job, and in my home three adults have the coronavirus; none of us are working,\u201d said Norma. \u201cMy son is an American citizen, and we need him to receive the CARES Act benefit to provide food and a roof over his head until this difficult moment passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The claim seeks a declaration that the CARES Act\u2019s denial of economic impact payments to U.S. citizen children of undocumented parents is unconstitutional and seeks payments of up to $500 for each U.S. citizen child, in accordance with the thresholds in the CARES Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to not provide economic impact payments to support citizen children harms the children directly and is a slap in the face to millions of hard-working taxpaying immigrants who comply with our tax laws, file tax returns, and pay billions of dollars in taxes,\u201d said Professor Leslie Book, of Villanova Widger School of Law. \u201cThis is especially cruel and unjust when so many are struggling to pay for food, rent and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

With over 100,000 members across the states of Maryland, Virginia, and South Central Pennsylvania, CASA<\/strong> is the largest member-based Latino and immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region. CASA organizes with and litigates on behalf of low-wage immigrants. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org<\/a> and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall<\/p>\n

The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) <\/strong>uses the power of the courts to defend American constitutional rights and values. Based at Georgetown Law Center, ICAP draws on expert litigators, savvy litigation strategy and the constitutional scholarship of Georgetown to vindicate individuals\u2019 rights and to protect America\u2019s constitutional way of life. More information about ICAP can be found at https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mynellies Negron, mynellies@communicationsshop.us<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>, 703-585-6727 on behalf of CASA<\/p>\n

Lucy Bradlow, lbradlow@gpg.com<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>, 415-307-3218 on behalf of ICAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARYLAND, Tuesday, May 5, 2020: Georgetown Law\u2019s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and Villanova Law Professor Leslie Book today filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-1160","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1160"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1295,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1160\/revisions\/1295"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}