For Shame: House Majority Votes to Harm Millions of Citizen and Latino Children

National Immigration Law Center chides House’s latest attack on children

WASHINGTON — The conservative-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday to deny the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to as many as 5.5 million children — children who are mostly U.S. citizens and Latino — while permanently expanding the tax credit for higher income households.

The vote came in a year in which House conservatives have advanced measures that have little chance of becoming law but clearly show their callous disregard for the most vulnerable in our society, including the poor, Latinos, immigrant communities, and even children.

The proposed changes to the tax credit would deny the refundable portion of the credit to tax filers using an IRS-issued Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of a Social Security number. The changes would also expand the CTC to higher income families making up to $205,000 per year, while failing to extend a provision that allows working poor families earning as little as $3,000 per year to access the CTC.

The House’s vote to push lower-income families deeper into poverty comes just one day after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) proposed an “anti-poverty” program that would punish families living in poverty if they do not meet benchmarks for success.

The following is a statement by Marielena Hincapié, executive director of National Immigration Law Center (NILC):

“It is a true irony that a House leader, the Budget Committee chairman, would propose benchmarks for success for the poor, when the Congress does everything it can to prevent these families from succeeding, as this CTC vote illustrates.

“This House has failed to increase the minimum wage and extend unemployment benefits. It shamefully cuts needed hunger and health programs.

“The CTC has been a highly effective tool in fighting poverty. In 2012, the program helped more than 3 million American taxpaying familiesclimb out of poverty. Never mind that the tax credit only goes to working poor families, and that those who would be cut off earn an average of $21,000 a year.

“This Congress has repeatedly ignored good policy options and made bad political judgments by attacking children, the poor, Latinos, and immigrants. We will continue to raise our voices in opposition until the values of compassion and fairness are returned to the House.”

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