CBO Confirms Obama's Amnesty Will Cost Billions in Tax Credits

President Obama's unilateral executive amnesty will cost taxpayers $10.2 billion in Earned Income and Additional Child tax credits over the next ten years the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday.

In a letter to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote that the House of Representatives Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which would undo both of Obama's executive amnesty programs (the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program and the 2014 Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program), would decrease on-budget deficits by $8.8 billion over ten years thanks largely to billions in tax credit spending cuts.

"The earned income tax credit and the child tax credit are refundable tax credits," the letter reads. "Refundable tax credits reduce a taxpayer’s overall income tax liability; if the credits exceed the other liability, the excess may be refunded to the taxpayer. Those refunds are classified as outlays in the federal budget."

"JCT estimates that the bulk of the decrease in outlays for refundable credits projected for the 2015–2025 period would be attributable to decreases in earned income tax credits," the letter continues. "H.R. 240 would decrease the amount of earned income tax credits by decreasing the number of people with Social Security numbers, which are required for taxpayers and dependents to qualify for earned income tax credits."

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In other words, since Obama's amnesty gives millions of illegal immigrants Social Security numbers, it will cost American taxpayers billions in new spending on those same illegal immigrants.

This CBO letter contradicts Obama's promise to the American people that illegal immigrants given amnesty under his program would not be offered "the same benefits that citizens receive."

The CBO letter also estimates that amnestied immigrants will pay $22 billion in Social Security payroll taxes over the next ten years. But like all Social Security recipients, unless they are deported, amnestied immigrants will eventually be a net drain on the Social Security system, taking out far more in benefits then they paid in.