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How The Stimulus Package Leaves Out U.S. Citizens With Undocumented Spouses

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Stimulus checks are rolling into bank accounts across the country, but many have experienced confusion about when, and if, their portion of the $2 trillion economic relief package is coming. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act stipulates that tax filers are eligible if they fall within a certain income bracket, but some American citizens will not receive their check even if they meet those requirements. A provision in the tax law bars citizens who are married and filing jointly with undocumented immigrants from receiving the aid.

The left-leaning outlet North Carolina Policy Watch estimates this provision excludes at least 300,000 adults and children across the state. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund has filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of six plaintiffs who are married to immigrants without Social Security numbers.

Host Frank Stasio talks with , independent journalist and investigative reporter for Enlace Latino NC, about the exclusion and what it means for North Carolina communities.

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Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, ¹ÏÉñapp's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the ¹ÏÉñapp team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's ¹ÏÉñapp Director.
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