May get $24,000 plus in tax credits.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: GOP Senators Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have claimed that President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration has granted illegal immigrants “amnesty bonuses,” a phrase penned by Sasse in a letter addressed to the inspector general of the U.S. Treasury Department.
According to the Weekly Standard, a neoconservative media outlet based in Washington D.C., a recent Homeland Security Committee hearing revealed undocumented immigrants with “deferred statuses” under the president’s executive action may be able to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Furthermore, they could be able to file amended tax returns for the last three years totaling upwards of $24,000 in tax credits.
While the accusations were leveled by members of the Senate, the discovery was made by Eileen J. O’Connor, a tax lawyer who was formerly head of the tax division at the United States Department of Justice.
“This is basic economics: if you want more of something, you subsidize it. By subsidizing illegal entry with four years’ worth of new tax credits, the IRS would promote lawlessness. This program severely undermines the White House’s lip-service to enforcing the law and would increase the burden on law-abiding taxpayers,” Sasse bemoaned in a statement released by his office.
Ron Johnson, incumbent chairman of the Senatorial Homeland Security Committee, seconded Sasse’s concerns in his own official statement: “Non-U.S. citizens who qualify for President Obama’s temporary deferred actions will now be eligible to receive permanent Social Security numbers. A Social Security number is the key that opens a whole treasure chest of benefits, including significant tax credits.”