Last Week, Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) — a wide-ranging, 1,000-page domestic policy bill that would affect everything from taxes to SNAP benefits to Medicaid and more — eked through the House with just one vote to spare.
Among the “50 Wins” touted in the legislation by the White House (many of which have been contested by analysts and policy experts) is an increased child tax credit (CTC), from $2,000 per child under the age of 17 to $2,500… but there’s a catch. The OBBB would, in fact, revoke the child tax credit for millions of American children and permanent residents. Estimates range from approximately 2 million to 4.5 million.
The $500 boost per child would go through 2028, at which point it would be adjusted for inflation so that it would retain its full value. But there’s a new requirement: both parents must have a Social Security number (SSN) for the family to claim the credit.
U.S. citizens, green card holders, and H1B visa holders can receive SSN. For the latter two groups, this number is for the purpose of filing taxes and other work-related business only. However, undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, students, and workers on a number of other work visas, pay taxes with an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).
Under the OBBB, if one parent were a U.S. citizen with a social security number and the other were an asylum seeker, and they had a child who was an American citizen, that family would not have access to the CTC. This is true regardless of whether the family had received the CTC in the past.
In general, CTCs, and even the idea of expanding them, enjoy bipartisan support. Indeed, CTCs have been shown to help reduce the effects of poverty in families and improve children’s overall well-being. But Republicans have balked at the idea of undocumented immigrants receiving any benefit in
According to the Tax Policy Center, this move would dramatically reduce costs by about $40 billion over the next decade… but questions the long-term cost, not just on families and children, but on the economic strength of their communities.
The OBBB is expected to face challenges in the Senate, and already some who voted YES in the house have walked back their support, including some of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Congress. While changes are expected, passage is a distinct possibility.
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