Opinion
Federal funds given to Washington state during the COVID-19 pandemic ended up in the hands of illegal immigrants, according to a recent report. Including checks for $1,000. While Americans were suffering from unemployment or underemployment and increasing inflation, taxpayer money was given to illegal aliens. There was a lot of mismanagement with COVID relief payments, something we learn more about as time passes. This is no exception, though “mismanagement” is probably not the correct term. “Theft” is probably closer to the mark. The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is by no means the only example of federal funds being misallocated or the system being abused during the COVID-19 pandemic. The AP found that over $280 billion – billion – was given to fraudsters and another $123 billion completely wasted. But it is a good indication of how easy it can be to misuse taxpayer funds in any situation and especially when people are in fear. It would be one thing if they used Washington funds. Instead, they used federal tax dollars – yours.