An Illinois man filed a lawsuit against President Trump and other high-ranking Republicans over a provision of the coronavirus relief package that could deny funds to U. S. citizens married to immigrants without Social Security numbers.
The plaintiff, named “John Doe” in the class-action lawsuit filed Friday, claimed he and the more than 1 million other U.S. citizens married to “unauthorized” immigrants who don’t have Social Security numbers were discriminated against “based solely on whom he chose to marry.”
Doe claims his wife pays taxes and uses a Taxpayer Identification Number, which is issued by the IRS, instead of a Social Security number. The two reportedly file joint taxes but did not receive any payment from the $2.2 trillion aid package passed in March. People earning less than $75,000 a year are eligible for $1,200 under the CARES Act, plus $500 for each child.
The lawsuit alleges a provision added by the Trump administration requires both partners to have Social Security numbers for either partner to receive aid money.
“It’s a deliberately cruel carve-out,” Manar Waheed, senior legislative and advocacy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in the suit.
Doe is demanding the provision be taken out of the CARES Act and that he receive an unspecified amount of money in damages for “substantial mental pain and suffering and severe emotional distress and injury.”
In addition to the president, the suit also names Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as defendants.
