Economic Stimulus Plan to Include Rebate Checks to Illegal Aliens?

Will illegal aliens still receive rebate checks from the federal government as part of the so-called stimulus plan presently being debated in Congress?

According to Congressman John Shadegg who was one of the few Republicans in the House of Representatives with the courage to vote against this stimulus package:

"The reason that illegal aliens will nonetheless receive rebate checks is that under the terms of the bill, checks are to be automatically sent to all people who filed a tax return and earned the requisite $3000. Because tax returns do not disclose a taxpayer's legal status, rebate checks will automatically be sent to all illegal aliens who filed a tax return."

"It's a little like going out on Halloween and telling your babysitter that she should only give out candy to kids from your neighborhood. But, she has no way of knowing which kids are from your neighborhood and which are from somewhere else, so she just gives it to all the kids who come to your house.

"Simply put, the IRS has no way to know whether the individual who filed the tax return is an illegal alien or not. As a result, it will issue checks to all illegal aliens who filed a return."

Of course Shadegg made these comments in reference to the bill as it originally passed the House, which made those who filed tax returns using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) eligible for refunds.

Days later Senator John Ensign proposed a measure that supposedly fixed this loophole by stipulating that only those with valid Social Security numbers --and not ITINs --would be eligible for checks.

But will that stop illegals from receiving checks?

According to Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, the answer is still "NO" because there is a:

"..lack of coordination between the IRS and immigration enforcement agencies.... If the IRS was cooperating with Social Security or DHS... they would know who the illegal immigrants are who file tax returns."

In fact, according to government estimates, the buying and selling of fraudulent Social Security numbers is a $50 BILLION (that's BILLION) a year business!

And that's a problem!