Ilhan Omar: ‘We need to meet the moment by delivering monthly payments of $2,000’

Minnesota Representative and member of the “Squad”, Ilhan Omar, led a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, signed by more than 50 members of Congress, urging the inclusion of recurring cash payments to the American people for the duration of the pandemic.

The letter also calls for parity of payments for adults and dependents, and inclusion of all immigrant workers and their families.

“People across Minnesota and the entire country are suffering. Millions remain out of work and countless more have had their hours cut or income dry up as a result of the pandemic. A one-time payment of $2,000 is simply not enough,” said Rep. Omar. “The American people are counting on us to deliver transformative change, and we need to meet the moment by delivering monthly payments of $2,000.”

The letter states:

Any relief package must include recurring cash payments that:

Continue until the economy recovers with equal payments to adults and dependents,
Prioritize those who need it most and will spend it the quickest,
Go to all immigrant workers, refugees, and their families (both ITIN filers and mixed-status households),
Include older dependents such as disabled and elderly dependents and those over the age of 16 still claimed as dependents,
Add improved administrative outreach and communication at the state and local level to ensure families are aware of payments, and
Ensure the Internal Revenue Service makes automatic payments available to all eligible households with better outreach to individuals left behind in previous rounds, including the underbanked and unbanked through pre-loaded EBT cards and those who had erroneous, delayed, or missing payments through improved casework assistance.

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