Illegal Aliens Have Been Collecting Child Tax Credits and Earned Income Credits — Trump Admin Just Cut Them Off

IRS Chief Executive Frank Bisignano explained what these credits were designed for — and who has been exploiting them: “Refundable tax credits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, were enacted to help low-to-middle income American families and workers receive critical financial support. Today’s proposed regulations ensure that federally funded benefits are reserved for eligible taxpayers and protect the integrity of every taxpayer dollar.”

The “refundable” designation is the key detail that explains how this worked. When a credit exceeds what someone owes in taxes, they receive the difference as a cash refund from the government. People with little or no tax liability — including many illegal aliens — were receiving thousands of dollars in cash per year from the American taxpayer specifically because the credits are refundable. Not as a reimbursement for taxes paid. As a direct government payment.

This has been going on for years. The Biden administration was aware of it and chose not to fix it. The IRS was aware of it and chose not to fix it. The law has always restricted these benefits to citizens and qualified aliens — but the enforcement mechanism was essentially nonexistent. People filed, people collected, nobody checked.