opinion
Federal funds given to Washington state during the COVID-19 pandemic ended up in the hands of undocumented immigrants, according to a recent report.
Including checks for $1,000.
While Americans struggled with unemployment or underemployment and rising inflation, taxpayer money was given to illegal aliens.
RELATED: Biden reportedly refers to Trump as a 'sick patient' in private — and the media loves it
$1,000 checks for illegal immigrants
There has been a lot of mismanagement regarding coronavirus relief payments, something we are learning more about as time goes on.
This is no exception, although “mismanagement” may not be the correct term. “Theft” is probably closer to the mark.
Fox News reports on the story, “The report, from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), cites funds administered by the State and Local Coronavirus Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created under the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments local response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in total funding from this program.
The report from the group, which advocates for a smaller federal government, highlighted how $340 million in funding went to a program that sent $1,000 checks to undocumented immigrants in the state. The money, approved by the Washington state legislature in April 2021, provided “another round of funding for undocumented Washingtonians,” the program’s impact report said.
The Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund was first created in 2020 to give checks to those ineligible for government assistance programs because of their immigration status. Treasury documents confirm that the state has since provided an additional $340 million in federal relief money for one-time cash grants, with 10% of the funding going to community organizations to administer the program.
RELATED: Biden falsely claims again that son Beau died in Iraq to family of US soldier killed in Jordan
Complete mismanagement
This is by no means the only example of misallocation of federal funds or abuse of the system during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AP found that more than $280 billion — $1 billion — was given to fraudsters and another $123 billion was completely wasted.
But it's a good indicator of how easy it is to misuse taxpayer money in any situation, especially when people are in fear.
It would be different if they used Washington money. Instead, they used federal tax dollars – your money.
The Policy Insider faces imminent closure.
Please consider pledging $10 now to keep our doors open.
