Hearings Held on Interior Enforcement, Asylum Fraud, and EITC Benefits for Amnestied Illegal Aliens

Three House committees held separate hearings yesterday on the curtailment in interior immigration enforcement, legislation to crack down on asylum fraud, and the potential for amnestied illegal aliens to access the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), even if they never paid income taxes. The hearings took place as Senate Democrats continued to filibuster legislation (H.R. 240) that would fund the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year while preventing implementation of the president’s executive amnesties.

Dan Cadman, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on interior immigration enforcement and emphasized the links between effective immigration enforcement, public safety, and the plight of the middle class. Cadman said, “We are on the verge of having created a de facto ‘go-free-zone’ wherein almost everyone who manages to get past the first defenses of the Border Patrol directly at the border lives and works unlawfully, with almost nothing to fear in the way of consequences for their actions.” .

Cadman also addressed Administration policies that have severely damaged law enforcement’s ability to find, hold, and deport criminal aliens, including the prosecutorial discretion abuse, ending detainers for criminal aliens, and the termination of the Secure Communities program.

The House Judiciary Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee held a hearing on several enforcement bills from the last Congress, including the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, U-Utah. The bill would tighten the standard for “credible fear,” which the vast majority of border surge aliens used to remain in the U.S. after illegal entry. It also would restrict the rules governing release from detention under parole authority, which the Administration has used to release detainees before their claims are adjudicated.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., said it is too easy to game the system now. He noted that most border surge aliens have been released into the population with orders to appear before judges but many will never show up. “In the end, it doesn’t matter how many aliens are apprehended along the border, if apprehension itself becomes a golden ticket into the country,” Goodlatte said.

The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing to focus on a variety of issues facing the Internal Revenue Service, including payments to illegal aliens. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the subcommittee that illegal aliens who receive a Social Security Number under President Obama’s executive amnesty will be able to claim the EITC, as well as back refunds, even if they didn’t pay taxes while working illegally. They will just have to show they were employed. Testifying in the Senate last week, Koskinen said that only those who had paid taxes while working illegally would be eligible.

Kosinen said about 700,000 illegal aliens now pay taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, but the president’s unilateral actions would expand the number eligible for the EITC and back refunds by at least 4 million. The maximum annual credit is between $500 and $600 for an individual.