Tax Credits for Illegal Aliens? There’s an App for That

As the illegal alien population in the U.S. soars past record highs, the effects of this uncontrolled and costly growth are hitting every sector of the American economy. Many of these are quite predictable, like unscrupulous businesses using illegal aliens as a subsidized labor pool (guess who’s doing the subsidizing?) with the blessing of politicians across the spectrum. However, the relatively new field of financial technology (fintech) is receiving an unexpected boost as well, and it’s going to cost American taxpayers quite a bit.

Several fintech startup companies are now targeting illegal aliens specifically, seeing a new market being created quite quickly by the Biden border crisis. One in particular, Maza, is garnering attention because it allows illegal aliens to directly sign up for government benefits and bank accounts and send money back to their home countries. Weaknesses in U.S. law allow illegal aliens to claim thousands of dollars every year as credits while paying little to no income tax, Maza and the illegal alien-friendly app it designed, makes exploiting our system this way as easy as possible.

These payouts are possible because of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). The IRS issues these numbers to everyone required to pay taxes but not eligible for a Social Security Number (SSN), including illegal aliens. Banks are required by a post-9/11 law to verify customers’ identities. Unfortunately, easy-to-obtain ITINs act as “documentation” of identity for illegal aliens trying to access financial services. Maza is designed to let illegal aliens get ITINs and bank accounts as quickly as possible so they can begin drawing taxpayer-funded benefits.

The real costs come when illegal aliens can access benefits given to U.S. taxpayers. For only $150 a year to cynical fintech profiteers, many illegal aliens can get an ITIN and start receiving thousands of dollars from the Additional Child Tax Credits (ACTC) program if they have U.S.-born children. They can then deposit that money in the bank account that this app provides for them with their new ITIN acting as identity verification.

Illegal aliens eligible for SSNs, including the hundreds of thousands the Biden administration has let in through its “humanitarian parole programs,” can also claim Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). These provide another $2,000 per person, on average, even if the illegal alien in question earns too little to pay income taxes. For as long as our government continues to allow immigration lawbreakers to claim tax credits, unscrupulous businesses will arise to help them do it (for a fee, of course).

Tax credits claimed by illegal aliens cost the U.S. over $8 billion annually and where that money goes is equally as important. Interestingly, articles about the Maza app don’t go into detail about its other functions, but the screenshots in them tell the rest of the story.

Maza places “send money abroad” front and center, showing the real priorities of its founders and users. Illegal aliens using the app to claim thousands of dollars in tax credits from the federal government can then send it directly back to their home country. Remittances, money earned in the U.S. and sent to other countries, take away over $150 billion annually from the U.S. economy. Only one state (Oklahoma) imposes any taxes on this massive drain. Taken together, the functions of this app allow illegal aliens to claim federal benefits or bank their unlawful earnings and then immediately send that money back to their home country with the click of a button.

Tech startups treat America’s migrant crisis as a profit source while reasonable U.S. taxpayers watch themselves being fleeced by these “innovations.” The Biden border crisis already provides so many avenues for dirty profits, from employers sponsoring their own low-wage immigrant employees to public money spent contracting lavish perks for illegals. It’s no surprise, then, that rent-seeking has finally made it onto the App Store.