Sasse and Johnson Ask If President's Executive Action Includes Amnesty Bonuses

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse and U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Inspector General Russell George, the federal government's IRS watchdog, seeking answers regarding previously undisclosed consequences of the Administration's new policy of deferred action. The Senators issued the following statements:

"By offering illegal aliens new payments under the Earned Income Tax Credit, the IRS may encourage fraud from those claiming children living in other countries. The Administration may have blown open the doors for fraud with amnesty bonuses of more than $24,000 to those who receive deferred action," said Sasse. "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."

Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) made these remarks, "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. Most notably, qualifying applicants for the president's programs can now claim thousands -- even tens of thousands -- of dollars in payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit and, for some, the Additional Child Tax Credit. These two programs, which cost taxpayers $89.6 billion in 2013, were responsible for $21 billion in improper, potentially fraudulent payments that same year. Americans deserve to know where their taxpayer dollars are being spent and whether the Internal Revenue Service is failing to protect them from improper payments."

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