Two Vulnerable Democratic Senators Side With Illegal Immigrants Over Taxpayers in Budget Debate

As the Senate debates a budget resolution, GOP Senators Todd Young (IN) and Tom Cotton (AR) introduced an amendment that will bar any coronavirus-related economic payments in the future from being allocated to illegal immigrants. 

The amendment ultimately passed with bipartisan support in the equally-divided chamber. Democratic Senators Maggie Hassan (NH), Mark Kelly (AZ), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Joe Manchin (WV), Gary Peters (MI), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Jon Tester (MT), and John Hickenlooper (CO) voted with Republicans.

Adopted, 58-42: Young Amendment #54 (Re: Banning illegal immigrants to receive economic impact payments) in relation to S.Con.Res.5, Sanders Budget Resolution.

— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) February 4, 2021

Democratic senators voting in the affirmative:

Hassan (NH)
Kelly (AZ)
Sinema (AZ)
Manchin (WV)
Peters (MI)
Stabenow (MI)
Tester (MT)
Hickenlooper (CO) https://t.co/QxmaAaYXEr

— Jessy Han (@hjessy_) February 4, 2021

.@SenToddYoung and @SenTomCotton filed an amendment to the Democrats' budget to ensure taxpayer-funded economic impact checks aren't sent to illegal immigrants.

Believe it or not, 42 Senate Democrats voted against it.

— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) February 4, 2021

Two vulnerable Senators up for reelection on the 2022 map sided with illegal immigrants, however. Sens. Raphael Warnock (GA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) voted against the measure as their reelection cycle heats up. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) took a swing at the pair of vulnerable lawmakers following the vote, deeming them “too extreme” for the upper chamber.

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“Any Democrat who votes to send taxpayer-funded checks to illegal immigrants is too extreme for the U.S. Senate. Radical Democrats do not care about American families and small businesses, choosing instead to use their hard-earned tax dollars to fund checks for illegal immigrants," NRSC spokeswoman Katharine Cooksey said after the vote. "American families deserve Senators that prioritize their needs, not Senators who rubber-stamp Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders’ extreme, anti-family agenda.”

The measure was intended to protect taxpayers from cutting checks to illegal immigrants via the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In introducing the amendment, Young and Cotton encouraged the Biden administration to prioritize the American people over those who are here illegally.