{"id":17979,"date":"2018-12-13T15:44:05","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17979"},"modified":"2018-12-28T09:24:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T14:24:34","slug":"build-the-wall-restore-trust-in-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/12\/13\/build-the-wall-restore-trust-in-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Build the Wall, Restore Trust in Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new bill on Capitol Hill would free up funds for the border wall by closing welfare and tax loopholes that benefit illegal aliens.<\/p>\n

The National Immigration Forum calls the Republican-sponsored WALL Act<\/a> \u201cdesperate.\u201d<\/a> Indeed, it looks like a Hail Mary, given that Democrats \u2013 united in opposition to President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed border barrier — will take control of the House next month.<\/p>\n

But media characterizations of the measure as \u201chighly controversial\u201d are desperate in their own way. The only controversy \u2013 a scandal, really — is illegal aliens collecting billions of dollars in unentitled welfare benefits and tax refunds.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has pushed Food Stamps<\/a> on illegal aliens for years. The Internal Revenue Service issued an estimated $296 billion tax breaks and refunds<\/a> to illegal aliens and their employers over the past decade.<\/p>\n

According to the latest FAIR research<\/a>, illegal aliens collected $5.849 billion in welfare benefits last year and garnered another $6.743 billion in tax credits and rebates.<\/p>\n

The WALL Act would curb these illegal runs on the Treasury by reasonably requiring recipients to have their own Social Security numbers (not their children\u2019s and not easily obtained ITINs — Individual Tax Identification Numbers). The measure would also tighten citizenship verification procedures to receive Food Stamps, welfare, housing and other government benefits.<\/p>\n

Together with increased fines on illegal border crossers and new penalties for visa overstays, the bill\u2019s backers say it will raise and save $33 billion over 10 years toward construction of a $25 billion wall.<\/p>\n

The $33 billion figure, conservative according to FAIR\u2019s findings, should be a wake-up call for Democrats who blissfully maintain the fiction that illegal aliens do not any receive welfare benefits or tax credits to which they are not entitled. Every lawmaker \u2013 whatever their political stripe — should at least agree that eligibility requirements enacted by Congress must be enforced.<\/p>\n

Fixing welfare and tax loopholes is a big job, and years of bureaucratic buck-passing and benign neglect won\u2019t be corrected in three weeks by a lame-duck Congress. But lawmakers must not shrink from their duty.<\/p>\n

As a recent editorial<\/a> asked: \u201cIs it fair for hardworking Americans to pay billions of dollars in benefits to those here illegally?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sponsors of the WALL Act see a clear nexus between this country\u2019s jobs-benefits magnet and our unsecured border. The American public gets it, too. Erecting the wall with proceeds from a properly run tax and welfare system would go a long way toward building citizens\u2019 faith in the competence of their government. Your move, Congress.<\/p>\n