Lou Dobbs alert: Illegal immigrants may get rebates
politico.com
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. (more…)
If a person works here and pays taxes, they should get a rebate. The bigger issue here is will the proposed stimulus package work? I say “no”.
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January 30th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
That is like saying if someone comes to your house and mows your lawn without your consent, you still have to pay them.
Think about it.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Toni,
I definitely hear your point. I am totally on board with not giving illegals access to the same privileges we have as American citizens. However, if these folks are truly paying taxes, I think it is only fair to allow them to get their rebate (that’s just me) and that’s it. I also understand that we would not be having this discussion in the first place if our government would just enforce the dang immigration law.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
Duane,
Toni is actually right on this matter. Remember they are here ILLLEGALLY! So what they paid taxes! Thank you very much but it still does not over come all of the other negative effects their presence have in our communities.
The way I see there are thousands of of people making use of the schools and other services in my community but are not being properly accounted for. They do not vote and are only deminishing my our power by stressing the system and not properly returning to it.
I know serveral folks that are all in favor of illegals being here, for them it is all good because the funds in their childrens schools are still being used to teach things like music and art and not going to ESL classes for the illegals.
I have a simple solution to the illegal immigrant problem. Lets offer them amnesty but require that they pay a hefty price for all of the services that they have not paid for in the past.
Lets says someone applying for amnesty has a child that was born “illegally” in he USA 3 to 4 year ago. They can have their citizenship but they should be required to pay up to 4 years in back taxes to get it. The joke is if you were to hit them with a $10,000 to $25,000 tax bill the majority will be willing to remain illegal and continue to break the law.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:33 am
Continue with this theme – they have mowed your lawn and their happens to currently be a law where if the job is finished in under an hour you owe them a 15% bonus.
….Do they still get the bonus?
Think about it again.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:55 am
Toni,
Again, your point is understood and noted on my end. However, we might be a little short-sighted here if were were to take the course of action you are suggesting here. Let me explain–
If the President were to sign a bill that left out illegal immigrants who do pay their taxes like like legal citizens, the open borders crowd could easily make an argument based on the following:
* American companies that solicit illegal labor.
* Although these individuals did break the law by entering into this country illegally, they are obeying our laws as it relates to paying taxes.
* Being left out of a proposed tax rebate distribution for taxpayers (personally, I would say AMERICAN taxpayers) could be grounds for discrimination.
I would not discount the third point because it does have some teeth (albeit, baby teeth). It may be a bit of a stretch, but the open borders crowd could gain from it.
I say, let’s not muddy the immigration issue at this point. Instead, push elected officials to fully enforce our current immigration laws starting with companies that intentionally recruit illegals.
I think that there is a bigger picture here and a smarter way to handle it.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Aiding and abetting….. felony #1
Although??? Interesting slide there… I don’t get an although if I am caught speeding on my way to a charity function.
To pay taxes, one has to have a job or own property or have a bank account….
To get a job you need ID… usually a SSN.. if not, you are not paying taxes… an ITIN cannot be used for ID purposes…
To own property, lenders must look past the law and use the ITIN without reporting any suspicious happenings…
…or they again steal a SSN.
To pay taxes one has to have a SSN or an ITIN…
If they are using a stolen SSN we have identity theft, false statements, fraud…
felonies #2, #3, #4, and possibly #5
Look at it this way: A man gives his wife a black eye but then gives her a steak for it afterwards…. does that really mitigate anything? No.
One cannot be discriminated against when one is not eligible to receive the benefits in the first place….
for example, If someone enters a raffle they know they are not eligible for, but wins, they know they cannot take the prize… but now imagine that this person decides they want the prize…. what grievance do they really have?
There are at least 4 felonies being committed multiple times in order for one person to get a rebate….. that’s a lot of crime to reward….
January 31st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
To get a job you need ID… usually a SSN.. if not, you are not paying taxes… an ITIN cannot be used for ID purposes…
Whose talking about i.d’s? If you have an ITIN, more than likely you are. America was wrong for issuing these numbers in the first places to illegals, but this is where we are today.
My main point here is that if conservatives and other who are for the full enforcement of our immigration laws want to draw the proverbial line in the stand, this is not the most strategic way to do it. I think that there are far more other issues that are more clear-cut than this particular issue. Other than that, you are preaching to the choir on this end.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:43 am
Duane,
My main point here is that just because our government decided to look the other way doesn’t mean that we the people should be paying the price. Make the companies that broke the law pay the price. And under current laws, they should be. So basically if we simply enforce what is already there there should be no problem.
And it shouldn’t matter that they have been working and “earning” money. The point is that they shouldn’t be working in the first place. That’s why I used the raffle analogy. They KNOW they aren’t supposed to be working. They KNOW they are not entitled to anything. And yet some people (you included) want to GIVE them things. This is part of the problem. Like I said, a cop can look the other way and not give someone a speeding ticket 90% of the time. but can one really complain when that cop decides to finally pull this person over???? The answer is no!
Ok I’m done. Thanks for the dialogue.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:27 am
Give it a rest, it feels as if you’re reacting racism like back in the day, calling someone illegal is like calling a black person the n word okay.I’m also a young immigrant following up on these immigrant situations because one day I’m going to have to deal with it, like Dr Martin King Jr had a dream, we immigrants have a dream, having a better life and having a family is our dream.-Lone Wolf