[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1633-S1635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 842
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in a moment, I am going to propound a
unanimous consent request, but before I do so, I want to make some
brief remarks.
As my colleagues know and as several fact checkers have confirmed
over the past week, the Democrats' partisan reconciliation bill that
became law last week will provide many illegal aliens with $1,400
rebate checks paid for by the American taxpayer. By several estimates,
millions of illegal immigrants will get these rebates.
I offered an amendment 2 weeks ago to the Democrats' bill to close
this loophole. During debate on my amendment, one Democratic Senator
spoke against my amendment, saying that no illegal aliens have Social
Security numbers, and therefore the premise of my amendment and my
speech was, he said, ``not true.'' In fact, here are the Senator's full
remarks from the floor 2 weeks ago:
Mr. President, the statement from the Senator from Texas is
just plain false. Let me be clear. Undocumented immigrants do
not have Social Security numbers, and they do not qualify for
stimulus relief checks, period.
And just in case you didn't notice, they didn't qualify in
December when 92 of us voted for that measure, and they don't
qualify under the American Rescue Plan. Nothing has changed.
And for you to stand up there and say the opposite is just
to rile people up over something that is not true.
It is not true, and we know what is going on [here]. They
want to be able to give speeches and say the checks go to
undocumented people. In the circumstance where there is a
parent receiving--
At that point, the Senator's time expired.
Following that debate, the Senator in question took to Twitter to
double down. So it was not, after an all-night of no sleep, a moment of
erroneous comment, but, rather, on Twitter that same Senator tweeted:
Sen. Cruz's claim is only meant to rile people up over
something that's not true. You cannot receive a stimulus
check without a Social Security #. That's a fact. Instead of
discriminating against mixed-status families, let's
prioritize getting more relief to those families.
A second tweet from the same Senator:
We simply cannot stand by and allow outright falsehoods to
be propagated on the Senate floor. It's time for GOP Senators
like Ted Cruz to stop trying to rile people up over
misinformation.
Well, as John Adams famously said, facts are stubborn things, and it
turns out the comments from the Democratic Senator were categorically
false and my comments that this bill would send checks to millions of
illegal aliens were categorically true.
Numerous fact checkers began looking at the claims. Newsweek
initially fact-checked it, and, as is the wont with a fair number of
media fact checkers, took the word of the Democrats for it, concluded
my statement was mostly false.
Following that, my staff got on the phone with Newsweek and presented
them with incontrovertible facts--incontrovertible facts that of the
roughly 12 million estimated illegal aliens who are here, roughly 60
percent of them are visa overstays, people who came legally and then
overstayed their visa, and a significant percentage of visa overstays
have Social Security numbers and will receive checks.
Indeed, that is why my amendment was scored at saving the Federal
Government over $600 million, because of the checks that would not go
to illegal immigrants if my amendment had been passed.
When Newsweek heard these facts, they did something really quite
impressive, admirable. They admitted they were wrong. They revised
their fact check, and they changed their fact check from mostly false
to true. True, period. No caveats. True. I want to commend Newsweek for
demonstrating journalistic integrity. Correcting that fact-check, I am
sure, was not an easy decision for them to make, but it was the right
decision for them to make.
So, Mr. President, I would ask unanimous consent that we enter this
fact-check into the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From Newsweek, Mar. 8, 2021]
Fact Check: Will Millions of Illegal Immigrants Get Stimulus Checks, as
Ted Cruz Says?
(By Graham McNally)
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) proposed an amendment to the
American Rescue Plan that would bar illegal immigrants from
access to the $1,400 stimulus checks.
His amendment was voted down after Senator Dick Durbin (D-
Ill.) criticized Cruz for trying to ``rile people up over
something that is not true.''
The Claim
Cruz claimed on Twitter that illegal immigrants would be
eligible for the $1,400 stimulus checks included in the
American Rescue Plan.
On March 6, Cruz tweeted, ``When the checks go out,
millions of illegal immigrants WILL GET $1400 checks.''
He wrote that many people considered illegal immigrants are
those who have overstayed their visas, and therefore have
Social Security numbers.
Cruz argued that the possession of Social Security numbers
will allow unlawfully present individuals to obtain the
stimulus money.
[[Page S1634]]
The facts
Anyone who pays taxes in the United States as a resident is
eligible for a stimulus payment under the American Rescue
Plan. That includes non-citizens.
For example, a citizen of Canada who is living and working
full time in the U.S. would have a Social Security number and
would be eligible for a stimulus payment.
The United States Department of Homeland Security website
describes unauthorized immigrants as foreign-born non-
citizens who live in the United States without legal
residence. Individuals who overstay their visas but pay tax
in the United States using a Social Security number can be
eligible for stimulus payments. The most recent available
data for the number of visa overstays in the United States is
from 2019, released by the Department of Homeland Security.
It said that 1.21 percent of visas in that year were
overstayed, or 676,422 overstays. In 2019, student visas
(1.52 percent) had a higher overstay rate than those from
Canada and Mexico (.75 percent, 1.27 percent, respectively).
Illegal immigrants would not be eligible to receive a check
if they do not have a Social Security number.
Immigrants who overstay their visas no longer are lawfully
in the country but retain their Social Security numbers and
therefore are eligible to receive a check.
``Technically, if they have overstayed their visa, they are
here illegally,'' a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border
Protection told Newsweek. ``If a visitor has not been granted
an extension of status by USCIS [United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services], then they are considered to be
overstays and subject to deportable status under 237 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act.''
People who qualify as legal residents include those who
have passed the green card test (permanent legal residents)
or those who pass the substantial presence test. That test
requires taxpayers to be physically present in the United
States for 31 days of the current year and 183 days for the
past three years.
Anyone who has a green card is considered a legal permanent
resident, and would be eligible for the stimulus payment.
The Ruling
True.
Cruz's claim that millions of illegal immigrants would
receive stimulus payments is true, given the amount of people
who have overstayed their visas over the years. Once they
overstay, they technically are considered ``illegal.''
Correction, March 9, 4:00 pm EST: The ruling on this story
has been corrected to true. A statement from Customs and
Border Patrol has been added.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, it is clear and indisputable that a
significant number of illegal immigrants will receive checks and are
receiving checks right now. All 100 Members of this body were
misinformed by the Democratic Senator that no illegal aliens would
receive fact checks--would receive, rather, stimulus checks. So I want
to give my colleagues a chance to adopt the amendment now, with the
correct information, with the true information, with the factual
information.
I would note as well, in these deeply partisan times, it is easy for
Republicans to throw insults at Democrats; it is easy for Democrats to
throw insults at Republicans. Far too much of that occurs.
The Senator from Illinois, who is a friend whom I served with for 9
years, is a talented Senator. I am not here suggesting that when he
stood up and spoke on the Senate floor and said things that were
absolutely false, that he did so knowingly and maliciously. I would
certainly give the Senator from Illinois the benefit of the doubt that
he was in error rather than deliberately misstating facts, but the
facts are now clear.
We have a rule in this body, rule XIX, to reprimand any Senator who
imputes the character or integrity of another Senator. I am not going
to seek refuge in that rule, although I think there is an argument that
I could. But I will say this, that once the facts have been made clear,
I hope my friend from Illinois will show the same principle Newsweek
showed--to apologize, to say he was wrong and he is sorry for calling
me a liar on the Senate floor and then going to Twitter to do so twice.
That would be the right thing to do, to acknowledge an error when it
occurred. The Senator from Illinois' statement that no illegal
immigrants will receive checks under this bill is categorically false.
For that reason, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate proceed to immediate consideration of S. 842,
introduced earlier today. I further ask that the bill be considered
read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. DURBIN. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
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. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. I would note several things. No. 1, the Senator from
Illinois said he didn't know if the number of illegal immigrants
getting checks from the Democrats' stimulus bill was in the tens or the
hundreds or the thousands. With all due respect, he does know that. It
is not in the tens. It is not in the hundreds. It is not in the
thousands. JCT, the Joint Committee on Taxation, which is a nonpartisan
organization that reports to this Senate and this Congress, scored my
amendment as roughly 482,000 illegal immigrants are getting checks
under the Democrats' proposal. Two outside organizations have scored it
as millions of illegal immigrants.
I would note what Newsweek said, when they corrected their fact-
check, and I am going to read a quote:
The Ruling. True. Cruz's claim that millions of illegal
immigrants would receive stimulus payments is true, given the
amount of people who have overstayed their visas over the
years. Once they overstay, they technically are considered
``illegal.''
Nowhere in the Senator from Illinois' remarks was a word of apology
for
[[Page S1635]]
falsely calling me a liar on the floor of this Senate and on Twitter.
That is unfortunate.
What the Senator said right now is also incorrect. The Senator from
Illinois said this amendment would halt the payments that are going
out. This amendment doesn't do anything of the sort. This amendment
restricts sending payments to people who are here illegally. When the
Senator from Illinois said he would love to do that, with all due
respect, that doesn't withstand even the slightest bit of scrutiny
because if he would love to do that, all he had to do was not object,
and the American citizens, the people who are here legally, would all
get their $1,400 checks, would get them on the exact same timeframe,
but those here illegally would not.
Today's Democratic Party supports sending checks to millions of
illegal immigrants. They have justified it, as the Senator from
Illinois did, by falsely claiming none of them are getting checks.
Those are not the facts, as the Newsweek fact-check makes clear.
I would note that a bill that Democratic Senators are trying to push,
denominated H.R. 1, what many are calling the corrupt politicians act,
would compound that by allowing millions of illegal immigrants to be
registered to vote and, no doubt, to cast votes.
This is a political decision that is far outside the mainstream. It
is unfortunate, but sadly it reflects where today's Democratic Party
is.
I yield the floor.