{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3713-115/featured_wall-act-of-2018-1546033759.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s3713-115/featured_large_wall-act-of-2018-1546033759.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s3713-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2018-12-05","title_override":"Cutting $25 Billion in Welfare & Tax Credits From Unauthorized Immigrants to Pay for the Border Wall","summary_override":"

This bill, the WALL Act of 2018, would make $25 billion available to fully fund the construction of a border wall by reducing spending on welfare and tax credits for unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.

In order to free up money for the border wall, this bill would make two changes to current tax and welfare policy by tightening requirements for certain benefits. Specifically, it would:

Require a work-authorized Social Security Number (SSN) to claim refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Currently, only the child needs a SSN — the parent benefiting from the EITC doesn’t require an SSN. This bill would require the parent benefitting from the EITC to have a valid work-eligible SSN.
Require welfare applicants applying for food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs to verify citizenship. Currently, someone only needs to “declare” citizenship and provide a SSN to receive some of these benefits. This bill would enhance citizenship verification prior to granting benefits by using E-Verify and requiring a work-authorized SSN for eligibility.

To raise additional funds, this bill would also increase minimum fines on illegal border crossers to no less than $3,000 and no more than $10,0000. It’d also establish a minimum penalty for visa overstays, subjecting visa overstayers to a civil penalty of $50 for each month they overstay their visa.

","official_title":"To appropriate $25,000,000,000 for the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.","short_title":"WALL Act of 2018","popular_title":"","short_summary":"","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. However, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated that this bill would save $33.5 billion over the ten-year period from 2019-2028. ","impact":"Unauthorized immigrants; illegal border crossers; visa overstayers; Social Security Administration; SNAP; TANF; HUD programs; food stamps; and E-Verify.","argument_for":"Building a southern border wall was one of the president’s major campaign promises, and this bill enables the government to fulfill that promise. Securing the southern border will make the U.S. safer, and ensuring that only legal residents can access tax credits and welfare ensures that America’s prosperity is reserved for Americans.","argument_against":"A physical border wall isn’t a smart strategy for securing the southern border, and it’s not sensible to spend billions on dollars on something that won’t solve the problem. 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Cutting $25 Billion in Welfare & Tax Credits From Unauthorized Immigrants to Pay for the Border Wall