California State Senate Passes Bill to Give Illegal Migrants $300-per-Week Unemployment Checks

California’s State Senate passed a bill last week to give unemployed illegal migrants $300 weekly unemployment checks for up to 20 weeks, despite the fact that the state faces a $32 billion budget deficit.

As Breitbart News reported last month:

California’s fiscus has fallen in the space of one year from a surplus of $100 billion, partly based on federal cash for coronavirus relief, to a staggering deficit of $32 billion.

In his revised budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) cautioned legislators to maintain “prudence.” But under SB 227, “excluded” workers who are in the country illegally would be able to receive $300 per week in benefits.

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California’s unemployment insurance program is already controversial, having lost $30 billion in fraudulent claims during the pandemic. The state recently defaulted on a federal loan to cover a shortfall in benefits.

Now, the Washington Free Beacon reports, the bill, SB 227, proposed by State Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Agoura Hills), has passed the State Senate and moves to the Assembly, with heavy potential implications:

Under SB 227, unemployment fund officials would be barred from asking for claimants’ social security number eligibility or contacting past or present employers to verify their job status. Instead, applicants would self-attest that they meet the requirements for the weekly checks: having earned at least $1,300 or worked at least 93 hours over three months. Acceptable documentation would include tax returns, transaction logs on payment apps, and receipts that show a commuting pattern.

The State Senate passed the measure just months after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) said the undocumented migrant influx could “break” California.

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The Golden State already offers free health coverage and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. More than two million illegal immigrants live in California.

It is unclear whether Newsom would sign the bill. He is currently facing questions over whether, and how, to pay for billions of dollars in reparations for slavery currently demanded by a state task force studying the issue.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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