Latino Leaders Denounce Senate Passage of Tax Overhaul
(Press Release) The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 45 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, denounces today’s passage of the Republican/Trump tax plan, which would cut taxes for the richest Americans and largest corporations, balloon the deficit by at least $1.4 trillion, and make millions of working families, seniors, and children worse off.
Latinos, like most Americans, will lose under this plan. By 2027, 70 percent of Latino families and 75 percent of Latino-owned businesses will see tax increases. At the same time, tax giveaways to the rich would be paid for by cutting nutrition, education, housing, and income support programs that help families make ends meet, putting the 6.3 million Latinos who rely on these programs at risk of falling into poverty. This plan will also trigger massive cuts to critical health care programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), threatening the health of millions of Latino workers, children, and seniors.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also attacks hardworking, tax-paying immigrants. This legislation requires certain immigrant parents to provide a Social Security number for each child to claim the Child Tax Credit—a powerful anti-poverty tool. This new requirement would add more burden and complexity, threatening the economic security of nearly 4 million Latino U.S. citizen children in mixed-status families.
“The bottom line is that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gives millionaires, billionaires, and the largest corporations massive tax cuts and sticks the bill to our working families and children,” said Eric Rodriguez, Co-Chair of NHLA’s Economic Empowerment and Labor Committee and Vice President of UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza). “Hurting the financial well-being of millions of working families while increasing the national deficit is shameful and goes against our nation’s values. It is time for Congress to prioritize the needs of their constituents over the desires of their donors.”
“Make no mistake about it, if signed into law, the tax plan that the Senate passed today will result in a massive transfer of wealth from working families to the rich and large corporations. Income inequality will worsen as tax credits and deductions that help working families are cut or eliminated, and the massive deficit this bill creates results in steep cuts to programs that give a helping hand to those working hard to climb up the income ladder. The Senate should instead focus its energy on a tax overhaul that provides relief to struggling working families rather than those who are already wealthy,” said Hector Sanchez Barba, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
