Did Mark Kelly vote to send stimulus checks to immigrants living in the country without legal permission?
By Jordan Gerard
Copy link
Copy featured image
NO
Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a democrat, did not vote to send stimulus checks to immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. However, after voting to bar such immigrants from receiving pandemic-related assistance in February 2021, he voted against blocking them from receiving pandemic-related financial assistance a month later.
Both votes were largely symbolic, as recipients of pandemic stimulus checks were required to have a Social Security number. Most immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission do not. The exception is noncitizens granted a Social Security number under a temporary work visa who remain in the country after their visa expires.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Internal Revenue Service Questions and Answers about the First Economic Impact Payment — Topic A: Eligibility
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.
