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Washington, D.C. (May 13, 2021) – A new analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that illegal immigrants will be receiving between $3.8 billion and $4.5 billion in cash payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) this year.
Although the two income-support programs are run through the IRS, they are not tax refunds; they provide cash payments to workers who have no federal income tax liability.
Millions of illegal immigrants can receive payment from both programs because they have been issued Social Security numbers (SSNs), which they use to file tax returns. Illegal immigrants without SSNs, but who have U.S.-born children who by definition have SSNs, are able to receive the ACTC by filing a tax return using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
"Giving cash to illegal immigrants costs taxpayers billions of dollars," said Steven Camarota, the Center's director of research and the lead author of the report. "But that's merely a consequence of a more fundamental problem: We give SSNs and ITINs to millions of people who are not even supposed to be in the country," Camarota continued. "Doing that encourages illegal immigration and unauthorized work, and conveys the message that we don't take our immigration laws seriously."
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