Gavin Newsom sued for $75 million taxpayer money given to undocumented immigrants affected by coronavirus pandemic

The State of California is providing $75 million and charities are providing another $50 million to undocumented immigrants affected by the coronovirus pandemic.

The Center for American Liberty is suing Governor Gavin Newsom. Attorney Harmeet Dhillon made various statements.

“This is taxpayer money that may only be appropriated by the legislative branch. This is not a slush fund for the governor to spend as he sees fit.”

https://www.kqed.org/news/11814049/conservative-group-sues-gov-newsom-over-coronavirus-relief-for-undocumented-workers

"There are two main reasons. One is that the California constitution forbids the state government from handing out a giant slush fund, in this case $75 million of taxpayer money, to nonprofits to then distribute to the public. That is simply unconstitutional," said Ms. Dhillon.

"That’s the basis of the writ. Beyond that, these funds are not being appropriated for a purpose that’s authorized under federal law or state law. State law prohibits the giving of unemployment benefits to undocumented workers, and federal law also prohibits this in multiple different respects. So there are a couple of exceptions for when the state legislature has specifically appropriated these funds, i.e. somebody is accountable politically. That has not happened in California. While the state can give a lot of other types of benefits to these folks who are obviously suffering like everybody else, giving them cash benefits in lieu of unemployment compensation is simply unconstitutional and illegal."

https://www.dhillonlaw.com/blog/videos/dhillon-on-ca-sued-over-75-million-relief-plan-for-illegal-immigrants/

From CDSS:

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, California is providing one-time state-funded disaster relief assistance to undocumented adults who are ineligible for other forms of assistance, including assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and pandemic unemployment benefits, because of their immigration status. This state funding is expected to reach about 150,000 undocumented adults.

The California Department of Social Services has selected twelve immigrant-serving nonprofit organizations to help individuals apply for and receive this disaster relief assistance in their region. An undocumented adult who qualifies can receive $500 in direct assistance, with a maximum of $1000 in assistance per household.


https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/immigration/covid-19-drai