Border wall funded by cutting tax credits for immigrant families

What it does

This bill appropriates $25 billion for border wall construction and funds it by restricting tax credits for families who cannot provide valid Social Security numbers, imposing a $300-per-person filing fee on tax returns using ITINs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers), requiring E-Verify checks for federally funded housing and benefits programs, and increasing civil penalties for illegal entry and overstay to $3,000–$10,000 plus monthly overstay fines of $50 per month. The tax and benefit restrictions disproportionately affect immigrant families and mixed-status households.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a $25 billion appropriation for border wall construction, but it funds this by narrowing tax credits and benefits for low-income and immigrant families—a regressive offset strategy that concentrates costs on vulnerable populations rather than broad-based revenue measures.

• Extensive amendments to tax code (child tax credit, EITC, education credits) and housing/benefits eligibility (E-Verify mandates) are substantively unrelated to border wall construction and appear designed to offset the $25B cost by restricting credits for non-SSN holders.

What the text implies

• The $300 ITIN filing fee may deter tax compliance among immigrant workers, reducing federal revenue and increasing underground economy activity—the opposite of stated tax-collection intent.
• E-Verify mandates for housing and benefits programs will create a de facto immigration enforcement apparatus within HUD and Social Security, shifting enforcement burden to housing agencies and benefit administrators without explicit immigration enforcement authority.
• Families with mixed immigration status (e.g., U.S.-citizen children with non-citizen parents) lose child tax credits entirely if the parent cannot provide an SSN, even though the child is a U.S. citizen—a potential constitutional equal-protection issue.
• The $50/month overstay civil penalty creates a debt spiral for undocumented immigrants, making deportation proceedings more punitive and potentially increasing detention costs.
• Restricting EITC and education credits for ITIN filers may reduce incentives for immigrant workers to file taxes, lowering compliance and federal revenue collection.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens—particularly immigrant families, mixed-status households, and low-income workers—lose access to child tax credits, earned income tax credits, and education credits if they lack SSNs, and face new $300 filing fees and housing eligibility barriers. The $25 billion wall cost is offset by narrowing tax relief and benefits for vulnerable populations, not by broad revenue measures. Non-immigrant citizens see no direct benefit; the bill redistributes public resources away from tax rel

Who stands to gain

• Border wall construction contractors (unnamed)
• E-Verify system operators and compliance vendors
• Federal government (via reduced tax credit payouts and new ITIN filing fees)

Named in the bill

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Agriculture (USDA), E-Verify system, ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), Section 24 (Child Tax Credit), Section 32 (Earned Income Tax Credit), Section 25A (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits) — and 2 more

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.

• Jan 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jan 29, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $253,655 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Katie Britt, the sponsor, reported $476,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Zero Prostate Cancer — $253,655 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.