The GOP’s new tax plan includes a nuanced, all but unnoticeable provision allowing millions of illegal aliens to claim tax credits for their children at taxpayer expense.
While some might rush to excuse the loophole as an oversight, it's not a provision that was included in the original bill. As Jan Ting notes for the Center for Immigration Studies:
When House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady introduced the bill, Section 1103, "Refundable Credit Program Integrity," provided that the refundable credits were not available unless the "taxpayer includes the taxpayer's Social Security number on the return of tax for such taxable year." This would ensure that illegal aliens could not receive the credit.
However, when the bill was marked up in committee, this language was replaced with "No credit shall be allowed under this section to a taxpayer with respect to any qualifying child unless the taxpayer includes the name and Social Security number of such qualifying child on the return of tax for the taxable year."
Because of birthright citizenship, any children born to illegal aliens become automatic U.S. citizens. Thus, illegal aliens can still receive billions of dollars in tax credits for their U.S.-born children.
Tang notes that this provision allows illegal aliens to claim tax credits for their U.S.-born children without filing any proof of legal status or work authorization themselves, allowing for billions in taxpayer dollars to go to people who may not pay a dime into the system.
Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that the bill was re-written to include tax credits for illegals so hastily, Congress didn’t even change the rest of the law to fit. Tang notes:
There's been no explanation of who was responsible for revising Section 1103's language or why. The change was so rushed that when the Joint Committee on Taxation scored the bill after it came out of committee, it listed savings of $21.7 billion for "requir[ing a] valid Social Security number of at least one taxpayer to claim refundable portion of child credit," which were no longer in the bill.
Then again, Obamacare lives on, we’re still funding Planned Parenthood, sanctuary cities are still getting federal cash and there’s a noticeable lack of wall-like structure on the southern U.S. border. So really, what are a few billion taxpayer dollars for illegal aliens?