The New York State Legislature Doles Out Massive Benefits to Illegal Aliens

by Jose Nino
July 15, 2021

If you’re an illegal alien living in the Empire State, the 2021 legislative session was an absolute Saturnalia.

David Jaroslav, the State and Local Legislative Manager of the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), observed that in the 2021 legislative session the New York State Legislature “has provided illegal aliens with a host of benefits, privileges and protections, while citizens and legal immigrants suffer under some of the highest taxes and regulatory burdens in the country and crime skyrockets.”

The largest handout to illegal aliens was the $2 billion “Excluded Workers Fund”, which gives illegal aliens cash payments of roughly $16,000.

Jaroslav noted this fund was “proposed by the legislature as retroactive unemployment assistance or as ‘stimulus’ needed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.”Such funds were allocated toward illegal aliens despite federal law explicitly prohibiting them from working in the US.

In addition, federal stimulus bills barred illegal aliens from federal taxpayer dollars. Regardless, New York Democrat leadership pushed the bill through via the state’s budget process despite the opposition they faced from all Republicans and a substantial number of Democrats.

On top of the $2 billion stimulus package, the legislature greenlit $2.4 billion in “rental assistance. According to Jaroslav, the “rental assistance” bill “authorized payments of up to twelve months of back rent and utility bills. Eligibility was based on earning 80 percent or less of median income, regardless of immigration status. Individuals who pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income toward housing could qualify for an additional three months of benefits.”

Due to how the Biden administration’s Wuhan virus relief bill bailed out states and local governments with hundreds of billions of dollars, every federal taxpayer is, in effect, indirectly subsidizing the aforementioned handouts for illegal aliens. Jaroslav added that the legislature also passed non-monetary legislation that protects illegal aliens from “retaliatory actions” by employers who inquire about their immigration status:

The legislature didn’t stop at monetary payments alone for illegal aliens. Senate Bill (SB) 4394A and its companion Assembly Bill (AB) 5144 prohibit “retaliatory actions” by employers against their employees based on citizenship or immigration status. This legislation would allow illegal aliens to sue for being fired even though federal law makes knowingly employing them a crime, putting employers in an impossible position where they’re unable to comply with both federal and state law.

Similarly, bills like AB 3412 and SB 343A amended New York’s criminal coercion statute to include threats to report someone to federal immigration law enforcement or get them deported. Essentially, under these new laws, otherwise lawful citizens who report illegal aliens or crimes connected to immigration would be turned into criminals.

As the legislative session was coming to a close there was an attempt to pass a bill that would have turned New York into a sanctuary state. The “New York For All Act,” AB 2328 and SB 3076A would have prohibited all information-sharing cooperation, and aid between state and local law enforcement with federal immigration law enforcement authorities.

Thankfully, this bill did not pass.

According to Pew Research, there are approximately 650,000 illegal aliens living in the Empire State. New York is practically lost for Republicans, but it’s current situation is instructive. If red states don’t keep mass migration in check, they will turn leftward rather quickly.

Republicans, classical liberals, and other people on the right must take this matter seriously. The very ideas of illustrious thinkers like John Stuart Mill are at risk if the immigration floodgates remain open. Looking at the voting behavior of migrants is enough to tell us about what’s in store for America if mass migration cannot be checked.

Republicans would be wise to wake up to this reality and start pushing for an immigration moratorium, fully funding border security, ending birthright citizenship, ending chain migration, and passing E-Verify among other pieces of pro-restriction legislation. If they fail to do so, many other red states will turn into one-party states like California and New York thanks to demographic shift.

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