The scandal-plagued Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent $4.2 billion in child tax-credit checks to illegal immigrants the year the agency began targeting conservative groups, according to a new report from Watchdog.Org.
The IRS sent illegal immigrant families $1,000 checks totaling $4.2 billion through the federal government’s Additional Child Tax Credit program in the year 2010, when the agency’s improper targeting of conservative and tea party groups began.
The child tax credit program was created in 1998 with a $400 cap and now has a $1,000 cap that was made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, signed by President Obama.
Republicans claim that the Obama administration is taking advantage of the program to provide checks to ineligible illegal immigrants.
“The law needs clarification that undocumented immigrants are not eligible,” said Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, whose clarifying amendment to preclude illegal immigrants, co-sponsored with Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, was blocked by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Approximately 15 percent of Additional Child Tax Credit checks are sent to illegal immigrant families, according to the report.