A proposal being discussed in the U.S. Congress seeks to help pay for a one-year extension of the temporary payroll tax cut, and extend benefits for the long-term unemployed, by slashing the number of people eligible to receive the federal child tax credit.
Under the proposal, people who use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to file their taxes, rather than a social security number, would be ineligible to receive the child tax credit.
This would mostly affect taxpayers who are illegal immigrants, adding an estimated $1,800 to a family's yearly federal tax bill.
The National Council of La Raza estimates that Latinos make up 85 percent of the families who would see their tax bills go up if the proposal passes. These include more than four million children, many of who are American citizens, although their parents may be in the country illegally.
Leticia Miranda, a senior policy adviser at NCLR, said she's in favor of extending the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits.
“However, we don’t think it should be paid for on the backs of poor children and families,” Miranda said.
A bill including the measure restricting the child tax credit passed the House of Representatives in December. It is now being debated in a congressional conference committee.
The committee has until the end of the month to hash out a final bill.
