HEROES ACT GOING TO PASS OR NOT?
The House of Representatives passed The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (The Heroes Act), which would provide $3 Trillion of COVID-19 relief nationwide. The roughly 1,800 page bill includes additional economic stimulus, more money for testing, continued financial support to individuals, and even assistance for immigrants. If accepted by the Senate, the following would be some of the many granted benefits:
- Another round of stimulus checks – now including immigrants with taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) and maximum of 3 dependents per household regardless of age;
- Extend deadlines for applications extending or changing nonimmigrant status;
- Extend visa expirations dates;
- Allow for remote naturalization oath ceremonies;
- Expedite green cards for physicians helping to fight against COVID-19;
- Greater unemployment benefits – including extending the weekly unemployment benefits through January 2021. Also providing benefits to self-employed individuals through March 2021;
- Rental and mortgage assistance;
- Hazard pay for essential workers– which would provide a premium on top of their regular pay and will run through the end of 2020;
- Health insurance payments for individuals who were laid off;
- Extending student loan forgiveness through September 2021 – including cancelling some loans completely (up to $10,000);
- And much more…
The bill’s various provisions seem promising and ideal, but the Heroes Act still has to pass through the Senate before becoming a reality. However, it seems unlikely that the Senate will pass this bill given the outward disapproval some members of the Senate have expressed at the Bill’s initial introduction.
Our office will continue to provide you with the latest immigration news! Please make sure to check out the rest of our blogs HERE to learn about other immigration topics. Also, check out Andrea’s YouTube video further discussing this issue.
