Until Rep. Mick Mulvaney heard it directly from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, the South Carolina Republican thought it was an Internet rumor that illegal immigrants could receive back tax refunds, Mulvaney said Friday on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
At a recent Homeland Security Committee hearing on immigration, it was disclosed that illegal immigrants may be eligible to receive the
Earned Income Tax Credit, allowing them to file an amended tax return for up to the last three tax years. Mulvaney asked Koskinen about it at a recent hearing.
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"I just asked (Koskinen) flat out and he said you don't have to have file a tax return, you just have to be able to prove that you had worked," Mulvaney said. "The president will issue them a Social Security number. Once they have that, they'll be able to file at least three years back taxes, file a tax return for three years in the past.
"And if they can establish the earned income while they were here illegally, they'll still be able to collect the full earned income tax credit for those three years that they were working here illegally."
The South Carolina Republican characterized it as an "outrageous amnesty bonus" that rewards law-breakers and penalizes rule-followers.
"I feel bad for are the folks who have gone through the system legally and when they become citizens or they get the right to work, they're not going to be able to do this," he said.
The secretary of state from Ohio also testified that in the Buckeye State, a Social Security number is the pathway to a voter ID.
"Ohio is not alone in that. It is a real risk," Mulvaney said, adding that it's just another example of President Barack Obama acting unilaterally.
"He doesn't care about anything other than amnesty," he said. "That means that people get to vote and they get the earned income tax credit. What does he care? He's only interested in the ends. Another unfair thing to do to folks, unfair to citizens and nationalized citizens who have worked hard to earn the right to vote.
"If you play by the rules, you get the short end of the stick. That's patently unfair to people playing by the rules."
Obama's executive immigration order also encourages employers to hire people who qualify for amnesty.
"There's about a $3,000 per-employee incentive for employers to hire folks who qualify for this amnesty, and that is because the folks who qualify for the amnesty are specifically excluded from Obamacare," he said. "If you hire one of these folks that means you don't have to provide them health insurance or pay fees.
"It gives employers a very real and tangible incentive to hire somebody who was here illegally, because it saves them $3,000 per employee."
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