Rep. Pressley: COVID-19 relief ’should be felt by everyone’ including inmates, illegal immigrants 

Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley says federal coronavirus relief “should be felt by everyone,” including illegal immigrants and inmates.

Pressley was asked Monday on a conference call briefing whether she’s going to advocate for sending direct stimulus payments to inmates and illegal immigrants as part of the next coronavirus relief package, known as CARES II.

"I will certainly continue to advocate for our immigrants and immigrant families," Pressley, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, told Just the News during the briefing. "The hurt is unprecedented. It has been felt by everyone. The relief should be felt by everyone.”

With regard to convicts, the Massachusetts lawmaker specified that she is advocating for “the compassionate relief of those that are elderly, representing about 10% of the population who have underlying conditions — so compassionate relief and also decarceration — clemency and commuting sentences for those that have less than a year.”

In April, Pressley said that inmates should be covered by federal stimulus in response to coronavirus but did not elaborate on specific programs she wanted to see enacted.

She has signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill that would authorize Congress to send direct stimulus payments to U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants with tax ID numbers who filed joint tax returns in 2018 or 2019. The $1,200 direct payments were part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that passed in March.