I wrote in earlier and have an update.
I finally had a change in my tax status around May 26. The app now stated the IRS received my taxes, which is confusing because before it said "still processing"... I assumed this meant it was received.
Again I filed in mid-March. A few days after, it changed from, your refund has been accepted and will arrive in your bank account no later than X date.
Here's the thing though, I reached out to some family who are accountants and they were able to contact the IRS on my behalf. I didn't ask too many questions about why everything took so long, but they were able to get things moving and now my refund finally appeared in my back account end of last week.
My suggestion is to get an accountant to call the IRS on your behalf because I couldn't figure out any other way to find answers.
