The mission of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is to identify any illegal aliens who are currently living and working in the United States, as well as to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country. The IRS, however, sees things a bit differently.
Almost two decades ago, the IRS made a decision to “legalize” illegal aliens by essentially treating them the same as natural-born United States citizens and legal immigrants–at least where taxes are concerned. As a result, as of 2010, more than $4.2 billion has been paid to illegal aliens in refundable child tax credits alone. In fact, there appears to be no regulations whatsoever as far as where the money is going, and who it’s going to. In 2011 alone, more than $46 million in tax credits was paid to illegal aliens who were all using the same Atlanta, Georgia address.
Not only has the IRS made the decision to issue tax credit refunds to illegal aliens, but they have also refused to cooperate with the federal government regarding the identity of these individuals. This completely defies the law that was signed into effect in 1996 by Bill Clinton, which states, “The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (the Illegal Immigration Reform Act), states that information concerning illegal alien status should be provided to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) notwithstanding any other law.” The IRS has found ways to get around being held accountable for upholding this law, and have actually created new policies to help them do it.
The same year President Clinton signed these laws into effect, the IRS instituted Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, or ITINs. These numbers were assigned to illegal aliens for the purpose of allowing them to file their taxes if they had worked in the United States during the previous year. They were also assigned to those who were not currently living in the United States, but who had tax liability here.
Child tax credits are not the only concern that legal United States citizens should have when it comes to issuing refunds to illegal aliens. Fraud was a concern from the beginning, and there is a great deal of speculation that fraudulent claims are being made by more and more illegal aliens every year. Standard deductions, spousal exemptions and various earned income credits are among those that are being disputed. These tax credits add up, and have contributed to the national debt, which is a problem that the IRS doesn’t seem to be too concerned about.
In a sense, the hands of the Federal government are tied. It’s difficult to reinforce immigration laws when they cannot be found. However, the IRS has no problem finding them when it comes time to issue them refund checks for fraudulent tax refunds.
It’s absolutely necessary for this legislation to be clarified, and dealt with once and for all. Should Congress make the decision that illegal aliens should not be allowed to file taxes using an ITIN, it would result in a government savings of almost $9 billion in five years’ time.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (or TIGTA) conducted an IRS audit in 2012 that had been initiated because IRS employees alleged that their managers had instructed them to assign ITINs to illegal aliens whose applications for those ITINs were fraudulent. It’s clear that something needs to be done to rectify this situation. As more illegal aliens gain entry into the United States, more money is going to be paid to them through the claiming of tax credits that they should be able to claim. Change is desperately needed in order to protect the citizens of the United States, and to begin to put some of the wealth back into the pockets of Americans.
