IRS to Send Tax Refunds to Deported Aliens; School District Asks

"400-school age children” were crossing a bridge connecting Texas to Mexico and were carrying “backpacks but no student visas." Two reports last week dealing with benefits for illegal aliens highlighted just how out of touch the federal government has become in the immigration debate. On the federal level, “[a partnership between a Pennsylvania accounting firm and a Mexican human rights group [is aiming to seek out Mexicans recently deported from the United States and offer to help them file for thousands of dollars in tax refunds.” (BNA — Daily Tax Report, September 21, 2009). On the local level, however, a school district superintendent in a Texas border town is asking students to prove that they are residents of the school district before they can attend school. (The Associated Press, September 21, 2009). According to a report from the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), the Center for Border Studies and Human Rights Promotion (CBSHRP), headquartered in the border city of Reynosa, Mexico, is working with Pennsylvania-based accounting firm Warminster Financial to help recently-deported aliens file for federal income tax refunds. To receive a refund, an eligible alien must obtain an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). ITIN’s are granted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regardless of an alien’s legal status or whether they fraudulently obtained employment. Mexico-based IRS acceptance agent Elizabeth Vargas confirmed to BNA that the process is legal. (BNA — Daily Tax Report). 
Officials from both Warminster Financial and CBSHRP indicated that “[undocumented Mexican migrants may have worked illegally in the United States, but they are entitled to their share of U.S. tax refunds.” Warminster Financial has even circulated a flier stating: “If you worked in the United States in 2006, 2007, or 2008, and were paid by check, you can receive up to $15,000 per year….It doesn’t matter if you are undocumented, were deported, or returned [to Mexico….” CBSHRP legal coordinator Felipe Gonzalez indicated that his center has already registered 15 deported aliens to help them receive tax refunds. Warminster Financial, on the other hand, had opened an office in Puebla, Mexico earlier this year to attend to recently deported clients, and has already registered 25 deported aliens, one of whom has already received his $7,800 refund. The two organizations say that their “new partnership is expected to draw many more clients.” BNA also pointed out that “[accounting firms in Mexico have been helping migrants recoup their taxes since 1997, when the IRS began allowing non-resident aliens living more than 183 days per year in the United States to file a W-7 form in order to receive their ITINs.” (Id.). While the federal government has been assisting deported aliens in receiving federal tax refunds and failing to stem the tide of illegal immigration, local governments have been forced to take steps to address the rising costs associated with providing taxpayer-funded education to illegal alien children. In Texas, for example, state law requires students to reside in a school district in order to receive tuition-free public education in that district. However, last week, The Associated Press reported that “[students living in Northern Mexico have skirted residency requirements to attend U.S. public schools for generations.” When San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Kelt Cooper “got word that about 400-school age children” were crossing a bridge connecting Texas to Mexico and were carrying “backpacks but no student visas,” he decided to take action. Cooper has ordered officials in his district to warn students crossing the bridge that they could be expelled if they are unable to prove that they live in the district. FAIR Communications Director Bob Dane pointed out that Cooper’s policy is aimed at preventing parents from taking advantage of a “duty-free education.” “It’s very obvious the parents are cheating the system,” Dane said. “The kids are getting quality education without contributing.” (The Associated Press). <a href=”http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21577&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1721#5″>Continue…</a>

2009-09-28