An advocacy group partially funded by the U.S. government is helping illegal immigrants who work with fake Social Security numbers recover unclaimed income tax refunds. The New York nonprofit, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, has so far helped a dozen illegal aliens get back thousands of dollars in state tax refunds, according to a local newspaper report. In some cases the undocumented aliens use bogus Social Security numbers, which is a serious federal offense.
In most instances the illegal immigrants filed taxes using a special identification number that rarely receives scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and allows workers to get federal refunds. However, New York’s tax agency flags employees who provide mismatched information like a Social Security that doesn’t correlate with a name and doesn’t mail refunds to those candidates.
Thanks to the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, which receives money from city, state and federal government sources, those lawbreakers are getting refunds. After all, the group aims to promote financial justice in New York’s low-income communities and in communities of color. It also strives to eliminate discriminatory economic practices that harm communities and perpetuate inequality and poverty.
What about the injustice in stealing someone’s identity? The group’s associate director claims it’s a harmless crime because most illegal immigrants use Social Security numbers that are made up and not stolen from a real person. Either way, the immigrant advocate reminds that labor laws protect all workers, even the undocumented.