Illegal immigrants to get rebates from economic stimulus bill

12:20 pm on January 30, 2008 by Infidelesto

Great news for Mexico’s economy.

In their bipartisan zeal to quickly cut a deal on an economic stimulus bill, GOP lawmakers overlooked something that will certainly inflame the conservative base _ illegal immigrants could receive a tax rebate check from the government.

The text of the House passed bill contains language making “non resident aliens” _ illegal immigrants _ ineligible for the tax rebates. But every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants use individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, to file income tax returns with the IRS. These ID numbers are used instead of Social Security numbers. There are no exact statistics for how many illegal immigrants file tax returns, but this New York Times story from last year details the significant increase in use of ITINs.  This story also lays out the issue.

Immigration advocates point out that many legal immigrants use ITINs, so it would be impossible to outlaw rebates for everyone who uses this form of ID in tax returns.

Republicans who were involved in negotiating the bipartisan economic stimulus package would like to avoid the illegal immigration debate as the $146 billion bill comes to the Senate this week. Congressional aides say the problem is that the IRS is not a law enforcement agency, so it doesn’t check immigration status when people file tax returns.

“The reality is that those who filed a tax return will be eligible” for tax rebates of $600 to $1,200, said Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). “This [issue] has not been addressed” by the senators writing the bill.

There Are 3 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Robert B. on 31 January 2008:

    This is typical of our government. I made too much money last year and am disqualified for a tax rebate… I paid too much in taxes to get any back. But someone in the country illegally receives money from the government that was taken from my pocket. Can anyone explain to me the logic here?

  2. Comment by Thomas on 4 February 2008:

    The logic is that the American economy relies heavily on undocumented workers, these are mostly individual who come to the US to work and work hard to earn a living, there are the one who are the back bone of the economy as they keep the prices on the shelves low and work for minimum wage or less why shouldn’t they get a piece of the pie, you clearly earn “too much to get any back” when these folks dont earn enought.
    Come on i’m tired of hearing about illegal because unless your family are decendants of the Mayas,Incas or any other of the native American tribes chances are they were immigrants from Europe, Asia or Africa!!!

  3. Comment by Rudy on 13 March 2008:

    Thomas, your argument about immigrants is flawed. The Maya, Inca and all Native Americans migrated from Asia. Anyone born in the US is native to that country, thus is a Native American. Stop being politically correct. It is destroying MY country. Don’t get all butt hurt because Robert is pissed that his hard earned money is going into someone else’s pockets. That is communism, which FAILED in the USSR, FAILED Cuba, and is FAILING Venezuela. And for the record, my ancestors can be traced to the Toltec and Spanish. I was born in the US. The difference between my parents and those that Robert is complaining legitimately about is that my parents came across LEGALLY. They waited in line. Why should those who broke the law be rewarded?

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