Tax credit bill contains loophole for illegal immigrants

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Tax credit bill contains loophole for illegal immigrants
By: Hayley Peterson

Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to give a tax credit to businesses for hiring unemployed Maryland residents could benefit illegal immigrants, according to several anti-illegal-immigration groups.
"I'm concerned we're going to be creating 6,700 jobs and they are going to go to people who have absolutely no right to those jobs," said Sue Payne, president of Citizens Above Party, which opposes illegal immigration.
O'Malley's plan would give a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each unemployed person they hired from now through Dec. 31. The bill defines eligible hires as residents of Maryland who are receiving -- or have already exhausted -- unemployment benefits.
To be considered a Maryland resident, workers need only a Maryland license and valid Social Security number, Payne said. She said illegal aliens have easily obtained these in the past.
"This bill seeks to appropriate $20 million [for the tax credit] without any safeguards to protecting the American worker," she said in a House Ways & Means Committee hearing. "We find nothing to guarantee that workers hired are authorized to work in the U.S."
Payne, backed by the Arlington-based American Council for Immigration Reform, is suggesting two amendments to the bill. The first would clarify that employees hired for the tax credit are authorized to work in the United States. The second would require businesses seeking the tax credit to provide documentation of new hires through the E-Verify system -- the Department of Homeland Security's online database that tracks employment eligibility in the U.S. In Maryland, more than 3,000 businesses voluntarily used E-Verify as of January, according to the American Council for Immigration Reform.
Sen. George Edwards, R-Allegany County, said the bill doesn't need those amendments because people receiving unemployment insurance in Maryland must, by default, be eligible for employment in the U.S.
But Payne said data from the Maryland Vehicle Administration shows illegal aliens can skirt the system.
"We know that illegal aliens have served on our juries. We suspect highly that they have registered to vote, and we know they can get worker's compensation," she said.
A packed hearing room gave Payne a standing ovation for her testimony.
Del. Justin D. Ross, D-Prince George's, said he doesn't often agree with Payne, but he finds her amendments "very compelling."
Sen. Andrew P. Harris, R-Baltimore County, approached Payne outside the hearing and offered to write her amendments into the Senate's version of the bill. Payne is scheduled to testify before the Senate on Tuesday.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/lo...#ixzz0eyKGOuqk