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The GOP tax and spending bill before Congress would make major changes to the child tax credit (CTC).
The bill raises the credit from $2,000 to $2,200, requires an annual adjustment for inflation after 2025, and enshrines it permanently into the U.S. tax code.
However, another provision requires that the child and both parents all have Social Security numbers. The bill's authors said it's to make sure benefits only go to those living in the U.S. with valid legal status.
Michael Mireles, director of civic engagement for La Unión del Pueblo Entero, said that right now, having only one parent with a Social Security number is enough for a family to qualify — and this new burden will hurt families with mixed immigration status.
"In South Texas, we have one of the highest poverty rates in the state. This is a predominantly Latino area with a lot of mixed status households," Mireles said. "Taking away this child tax credit opportunity for these families is only going to make things worse for people who live in South Texas."
Elizabeth Colvin, executive director of RAISE Texas, said approximately 875,000 Texas children who are U.S. citizens would lose eligibility for the child tax credit under the GOP proposal.
According to the Center for Migration Studies, the new requirement would also impact 910,000 children in California, 247,000 in Florida, and 226,000 in New York.
"These children are our students, our neighbors, and they are the future of taxes," Colvin said.
Texas would lose more than $1.6 billion in state and local revenue due to the exclusion in the first year alone, according to the Children Thrive Action Network.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R - Missouri) connected the child tax credit Social Security requirement to President Donald Trump's other hardline immigration policies — such as ending birthright citizenship.
"President Trump stopped the flow of illegal immigrants over our borders — this bill will stop the flow of taxpayer benefits to their pockets," Smith said on the House floor in May.
Smith called the bill a win for working families.
Mireles doesn't see it that way. "These proposed changes to the child tax credit are a blow to the hard-working families who can barely afford their day-to-day expenses," Mireles said.
Congress first enacted the credit in 1998. Over the last 25 years, lawmakers expanded it to make more low-income families eligible.
"The child tax credit is one of the most effective tools we have to lift families out of poverty," said Ashley R. Harris, director of public policy and advocacy with United Way of Texas. "We urge Congress to strengthen and expand the CTC so that it reaches all families."
Marian Navarro contributed to this report.
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