Received the following in an e-mail from FAIR:

Congress Takes Steps to Prevent Illegal Aliens from Receiving Tax Rebate Checks

Late last Thursday, the Senate passed an amended economic stimulus package with language that significantly limits the ability of illegal aliens to receive rebate checks. The vote to pass the bill came after days of debate over how to amend the legislation (H.R. 5140). Senate leaders finally compromised on a single amendment that had three components: (1) expanding eligibility for low-income seniors; (2) expanding eligibility for disabled veterans; and (3) significantly limiting the possibility that illegal aliens will receive checks. The Senate adopted this amendment on a 91-6 vote, and within minutes, the Senate passed the entire bill by an 81-16 vote. Later that evening, the House adopted the Senate language on a 380-34 vote. (Congress Daily, February 8, 200. The economic stimulus package now awaits the President's signature to become law.

The controversy over the economic stimulus package surfaced when it was discovered that the House version had several loopholes that allowed illegal aliens to receive tax rebate checks. First, the House bill allowed resident aliens who file tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to receive a rebate. Because the IRS does not take immigration status into account when issuing ITINs or determining resident alien status, this would have permitted illegal aliens filing with ITINs to be eligible for checks. Second, the House bill did not require the IRS to weed out false and fraudulent social security numbers before issuing rebate checks, allowing illegal aliens who file with such numbers to collect rebate checks.

The language adopted by the Senate, and eventually the House, requires taxpayers to have valid social security numbers to receive rebates and bars taxpayers who file with ITINs from receiving rebate checks. To determine the validity of a social security number, the IRS will be required to check the numbers against no-match information it already receives from the Social Security Administration to determine eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

While most observers agree that the amendment will not prevent every illegal alien from receiving a tax rebate under the stimulus package, Senators agreed that the language in the Senate bill tightens the process so that it is harder for the IRS to automatically issue checks to illegal aliens in the system. Not everyone was convinced, however, that making it harder for illegal aliens to receive tax rebates was a good move. At least one lawmaker, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), suggested that giving rebate checks to illegal aliens would help stimulate the economy. (Congress Daily, February 8, 200.