AMERICA FIRST?:

But many non-Americans who received stimulus money do not file U.S. tax returns. One of them is Susanne Wigforss, a 78-year-old Swedish citizen who lives in Stockholm.

Wigforss was surprised in July to get a $1,200 check in the mail from the U.S. Treasury. It was followed by a letter from the White House signed by President Trump, addressed to "My Fellow American" and informing her that "your economic impact payment has arrived."

"I thought, 'I can't believe it,' " Wigforss recalled. "They're sending it to me. Why? I mean, it's crazy, isn't it?"

Only U.S. citizens and U.S. "resident aliens" are eligible for stimulus money -- "resident alien" is a federal tax classification, and to qualify an individual needs a green card or must have been in the U.S. for a certain amount of time -- and Wigforss is neither.

Asked about this by NPR, the IRS acknowledged it mistakenly sent checks to some noncitizens who receive Social Security and other federal benefits -- such as Wigforss, who receives a small Social Security payment from having worked in California for several years.

"This is so wrong," Wigforss said, "because I saw that a number of people were being evicted every month in Chicago, for instance, and I thought one of those families would have needed this stimulus check. Why should a Swedish citizen living abroad receive $1,200?"

"There's no way I'm going to cash this money -- it doesn't belong to me," she added. "But how much money is bleeding out from the Treasury Department because of these [misdirected] stimulus checks, I wonder?"

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