U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has introduced the Status Eligibility Confirmation and Updated Requirements for Earned (SECURE) Benefits Act, also known as S.2974. The proposed legislation aims to prevent individuals in the country illegally from improperly receiving federal tax credits, a practice Hyde-Smith says costs taxpayers billions each year.
The SECURE Benefits Act would expand on Hyde-Smith’s previous work, specifically her Safeguarding American Workers’ Benefits Act, which became law as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. That law was credited with saving taxpayers nearly $28 billion by closing loopholes that allowed illegal immigrants to claim the Child Tax Credit.
“Our work is not done because the more you study this issue, the more apparent it becomes that billions of dollars in federal tax credits are being claimed improperly by illegal immigrants,” Hyde-Smith said. “The SECURE Benefits Act would do more to stop these improper payments by having federal agencies work with each other to recognize voided Social Security numbers for migrants who overstay their visa or lose their work authorization.”
According to Hyde-Smith, S.2974 could save taxpayers an additional $14.6 billion by closing loopholes across major refundable tax credits intended for students, working families, and retirees. Combined with savings from earlier legislation, total taxpayer savings could reach $42.4 billion if the bill becomes law.
The bill also targets access to other tax credits such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Saver’s Match.
Currently, immigrants can claim certain tax credits after obtaining a temporary work visa from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a work-eligible Social Security Number (SSN) from the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, even if their work authorization expires, their SSN remains valid—allowing those without legal status to continue claiming refundable tax credits.
To address this issue, the SECURE Benefits Act proposes two main changes: establishing a system for DHS to share work-authorization data with SSA and IRS so that the IRS can verify whether noncitizens on temporary visas have current and valid work authorization when claiming certain individual refundable tax credits.
“In this day and age with all the technology we have, there’s really no excuse for federal agencies not to verify the legal status before issuing billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded government checks,” Hyde-Smith said. “I don’t think this is too much to ask and that it’s what most Americans would expect of their government.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill previously prevented reductions in the Child Tax Credit, expanded it permanently to $2,200 per child with future increases tied to inflation, and included provisions strengthening eligibility requirements to reduce fraudulent claims by illegal immigrants.
A section-by-section summary of the SECURE Benefits Act is available online.
