California court denies bid to block payments to immigrants

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a bid to block the state’s first-in-the-nation plan to give money to immigrants living in the country illegally who are hurt by the coronavirus.

It was the second time in two days that judges refused to stop Gov. Gavin  Newsom’s $75 million plan to aid an estimated 150,000 unemployed adults who were left out of the stimulus package approved by Congress because of their immigration status.

The program offers each adult $500 to be distributed through nonprofit groups in an effort to protect recipients from providing personal information that might cost them other benefits or increase their danger of being deported.