Advocacy group helps illegal immigrants get tax refunds, even those with bogus social security cards

Advocacy group helps illegal immigrants get tax refunds, even those with bogus social security cards

Erica Pearson
New York Daily News
November 19th 2010

A Manhattan group is helping illegal immigrants recoup unclaimed state tax refunds - even if they used fake Social Security numbers to work.

The Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project got back thousands for a dozen undocumented New Yorkers who overpaid.

One bodega worker from Jackson Heights had been paying taxes since 2002 but never got a refund - until the group helped him get back $670 from his 2008 return.

"It really helped - we have two young kids," said his wife, who says they pay taxes because "it's the right thing to do."Thousands more could be due a windfall from the Department of Taxation and Finance.

"We've been getting calls from people who say they've been filing taxes for more than 10 years, and they've never gotten a refund," said Deyanira Del Rio, the advocacy group's associate director.

Since 1996, a growing number of undocumented immigrants have filed taxes using a special ID number, without alerting immigration officials.

They usually get federal refunds, but state paybacks can be held up because the tax department flags documents that have mismatched ID information.

The state demanded documents from immigrants who filed without W-2s or with fake Social Security numbers, Del Rio said.The tax department said it is working with Del Rio's group to identify taxpayers who are owed money and process their refunds, but added that most of the refunds requested by immigrants are automatically approved.

Verenda Smith, interim executive director of the Federation of Tax Administrators, notes that stealing a Social Security number is not a victimless crime.

"The person whose number is stolen ends up not being able to file a return, not being able to file electronically - getting notices from the IRS that you have unreported income. ... It's a massive headache," Smith said.

But Del Rio says most illegal immigrants use numbers that are made up and don't swipe someone's identity. Either way, labor laws protect all workers - undocumented or not.

"Like everyone else, they're still entitled to their refunds," she said.

This is just how utterly insane this country has gone. Rather than deporting those in our country illegally (as is the law), we are now giving them tax refunds. It's as though the entire country has gone down the rabbit hole.

dblboggie wrote:This is just how utterly insane this country has gone. Rather than deporting those in our country illegally (as is the law), we are now giving them tax refunds. It's as though the entire country has gone down the rabbit hole.

Yeah, giving them tax refunds on taxes they paid with fraudulent SS cards.

Unreal.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:This is just how utterly insane this country has gone. Rather than deporting those in our country illegally (as is the law), we are now giving them tax refunds. It's as though the entire country has gone down the rabbit hole.

Yeah, giving them tax refunds on taxes they paid with fraudulent SS cards.

Unreal.

And what do you suppose an American in Mexico illegally would get under their immigration laws?

dblboggie wrote:And what do you suppose an American in Mexico illegally would get under their immigration laws?

Jail.... and deportation.

But you know how the argument goes. They do the work us lazy Americans won't do. If we make them leave, prices of goods will go up, costing us more.

Oooopsie. When the wage of a worker goes up which brings the higher costs of goods, well..... so what? Liberals always bitch that people don't make enough. Well.... pay them what they're worth and watch the costs of goods go up. You can't have it both ways.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:And what do you suppose an American in Mexico illegally would get under their immigration laws?

Jail.... and deportation.

Indeed, but deportation only after a long jail sentence and fines.

TexasBlue wrote:But you know how the argument goes. They do the work us lazy Americans won't do.

Gee... I don't know, I'd take a job as a bodega worker.

TexasBlue wrote:If we make them leave, prices of goods will go up, costing us more.

Oooopsie. When the wage of a worker goes up which brings the higher costs of goods, well..... so what? Liberals always bitch that people don't make enough. Well.... pay them what they're worth and watch the costs of goods go up. You can't have it both ways.

Yep. Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't. Don't ya just love it?

Yep. Damned if you do.

Seriously, the companies that pay Mexicans the shitty wages would have to raise the rate of pay to have regular ol' Americans do the work. Case in point; down in Texas it's 98% Hispanics that run heavy equipment. They make around $10 to $13 an hour to do the work. Up here in Minn, the worker makes around $20 to $25 an hour..... and it's almost exclusively Americans that do the work.

But the cost of goods will cost more. That's right. You can't pay someone a livable wage and not have the cost of good go up. It's just plain economics.

TexasBlue wrote:Yep. Damned if you do.

Seriously, the companies that pay Mexicans the shitty wages would have to raise the rate of pay to have regular ol' Americans do the work. Case in point; down in Texas it's 98% Hispanics that run heavy equipment. They make around $10 to $13 an hour to do the work. Up here in Minn, the worker makes around $20 to $25 an hour..... and it's almost exclusively Americans that do the work.

But the cost of goods will cost more. That's right. You can't pay someone a livable wage and not have the cost of good go up. It's just plain economics.

You are quite right. But the bigger point is that because our government allows illegal aliens to wantonly cross our borders and enter the labor market here, this actually serves as a false, government sanctioned, market input in the free market system, giving businesses a cheaper labor pool they would not have if the laws were actually enforced. This means that the lower cost of those goods using illegal labor is a result of government interference (or lack thereof in this case as they are not enforcing the law) in the free market place.

Had we simply enforced our immigration laws, we would not be used to those lower prices for goods, more American's would be gainfully employed and spending their disposable income (thanks to those higher wages) to purchase other goods and services benefiting the economy (not to mention the increased federal receipts thanks to higher taxes paid).

Which in turn would feed the rest of the economy in a true fashion instead of a falsehood. I know..... it's rocket science.

TexasBlue wrote:Which in turn would feed the rest of the economy in a true fashion instead of a falsehood. I know..... it's not rocket science.

*fixed*

But yes, it's not rocket science. This is common sense here. One need not be an economic genius to understand the implications of the government sanctioned illegal importation of cheap labor.