GOP senators seek to block tax credit for immigrants

Senate Republicans released legislation Tuesday to bar immigrants protected from deportation from receiving a tax credit, opening up a new line of attack on President Obama’s executive actions last year.

{mosads}The measure from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a former chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, would stop unauthorized immigrants from claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit for previous years they worked in the U.S. 

Ten other GOP senators, including Majority Whip John Cornyn (Texas) and five other Finance members, joined on to Grassley’s bill. 

“This tax credit is meant to help the working poor get into the workforce. It isn’t meant to benefit individuals who aren’t authorized to work in the United States,” Grassley said in a statement. “The tax code shouldn’t reward those who broke our immigration laws.”

Under Obama’s actions last year, immigrants protected from deportation could also receive work permits and Social Security numbers. The IRS has said that, once immigrants get a Social Security number, they could also claim the Earned Income Tax Credit for past years in which they were eligible. 

The GOP bill would ensure that anyone granted deferred action by Obama last year, or through similar moves in the future, could not claim the EITC, a tax break aimed at helping working families that has support from key leaders in both parties.

Instead, workers shielded from deportation could only claim the credit for years in which they were authorized to work in the U.S. the entire time. 

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has projected that the measure could save around $1.7 billion over a decade. But in its release, Grassley’s office said that figure could be much higher, because JCT presumes that the IRS will need a year to update its systems to implement the measure.