EDITORIAL: Unfair stimulus package

May 16, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Thanks to misguided efforts to marginalize immigrants living in America, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and legal residents will not benefit from stimulus checks now being distributed by the government.

To keep checks -- which range from $300 to $600 per adult taxpayer, plus another $300 per child -- out of the hands of illegal immigrants, lawmakers decided that only taxpayers who have Social Security numbers would qualify. But the rule turned out to be too exclusionary.

Legal workers who pay taxes but do not qualify for a Social Security number will not receive checks. And if a married couple files jointly but one spouse is ineligible for a rebate, neither receives a check.

Who are the workers affected by the rule? Well, thousands of American military personnel who have married someone from another country and are waiting for an immigration petition to get approved.

Many of the 600,000 to 800,000 highly skilled immigrants on work visas in the United States are in the same position, having married foreigners. They are here legally and they pay taxes, but they miss out on a stimulus check because of the rampant prejudice against immigrants.

Those denied checks include hundreds of thousands of people who did everything by the book, filled out all the proper paperwork and abided by the law. It can take years to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops required to get a Social Security number, but meanwhile applicants are working here, paying taxes and contributing to the economy.

In fact, it would be easy enough to make the case for distributing stimulus checks to illegal immigrants, if the goal actually is to stimulate the economy. They spend money, too.

But Congress easily could -- and should -- address the unfairness of denying rebates to legal resident workers with taxpayer numbers. They can accomplish that while still excluding illegal immigrants.

Failing to fix this oversight would be both unfair and contrary to the purpose of this economic stimulus effort.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0173-25342910