In controversial move, millions of US Covid relief checks to bear Donald Trump's signature

In the latest development, the Treasury Department in the United States (US) has now asked President Donald Trump’s signature to be printed on the stimulus checks which are being sent to millions of Americans across the state to help them tide over financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move, which has been criticised, comes in the lead-up to the US Presidential elections where Trump is to face Joe Biden.

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The stimulus checks, which are being sent by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), are part of the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress at the end of March. The stimulus check is intended to help workers who have been laid-off or given unpaid leave along with those businesses suffering under lockdowns during the pandemic. As per the latest figures, there are more than 315,000 COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

Read: Millions Of Tax-paying Immigrants Won’t Get Stimulus Checks

Stimulus checks in the US

Anyone earning up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income and who has a Social Security number will receive $1,200. The payment steadily declines for those who make more. Legal permanent residents, or green card holders, are expected to benefit. The $2.2 trillion packages, however, has one major exclusion, which is the millions of immigrants who do not have legal status in the U.S. but work here and pay taxes.

As per a report by a news agency, roughly 4.3 million mostly unauthorized immigrants who do not have a Social Security number file taxes using what’s known as a taxpayer identification number, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. 

(With Agency Inputs)

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