BOSTON -- Groups are calling on Massachusetts to open up the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to working residents who pay taxes but may not qualify for a Social Security number.

A new report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center pointed out the law requires everyone who works to pay taxes regardless of immigration status, but immigration status bars thousands of Commonwealth residents from accessing a key tax break meant for low-income working families.

Luz Arevalo, senior attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services, said the EITC disparity has existed for decades, and the pandemic put another spotlight on it for many of her clients.

"So many of these workers have the type of job that didn't stop, that didn't cease during the pandemic," Arevalo explained. "The grocery workers, the meatpackers, folks working in bakeries, some of our clients had to continue going to nursing homes."

The report noted in Massachusetts, between 18,000 and 19,000 households miss out on the Earned Income Tax Credit, which helps more than 350,000 families make ends meet, solely because they lack a Social Security number, when they would otherwise be eligible.

If even one member of a household has an Income Tax Identification Number, which the IRS provides to immigrants who cannot get a Social Security number, the entire family is excluded from the EITC program.

Massachusetts' state EITC matches 30% of the federal credit, which doesn't accept income-tax ID numbers, but Arevalo noted it doesn't mean the Commonwealth can't have different eligibility requirements.

"I really support more of the Tax ID-blind policy when it comes to figuring out how much people pay in tax but also how much benefit they should get," Arevalo asserted.

States such as California, Colorado, Maryland and New Mexico have already expanded their state earned income-tax credits to residents with either a Social Security or an income tax ID number. Washington state has a similar credit that also includes all resident taxpayers.

BOSTON -- Immigrants' rights advocates are calling on Congress to pave the way to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in the U.S.

Daniel Pereira, director of communications for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said last week's federal court ruling from Texas halting new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program amplifies how urgent it is for lawmakers to take action.

He argued protection from deportation with a pathway to citizenship should be extended to those with Temporary Protected Status, as well as any other people residing without legal status.

"As this ruling shows, it's not enough," Pereira asserted. "We need something more permanent, more stable and more viable in the long term. So we would really love to see, for the broader population of immigrants in the United States, a pathway to citizenship over the long term."

Pereira noted the ruling leaves DACA recipients with uncertainty, but does not cancel permits for the roughly 700,000 so-called Dreamers. And people who are eligible to renew or in the process of renewing their permits can still do so.

The Trump administration attempted to end DACA in 2017, and no new applications were accepted until the U.S. Supreme Court restored the program in 2020. The administration then tried to keep the halt on new applications going and make recipients renew their application after just one year instead of two. But that also was blocked, and thousands of people recently have applied.

Pereira urged residents to make their support known.

"I think that we've got a great delegation in Washington right now for this," Pereira remarked. "But keep putting on pressure and letting the people in the Congress know that, you know, a pathway to citizenship is really the end goal here and something that's going to make lives better for everyone."

President Joe Biden said the federal government will appeal the decision on DACA, and added the Department of Homeland Security soon plans to propose a new rule to fortify the program.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In light of a new federal court ruling on DACA, immigration advocates in Ohio say Congress must take action to create a roadmap to citizenship for millions of undocumented people.

A U.S. district court judge ruled Friday the Obama administration overstepped its authority when it created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to stay legally.

Samantha Searls, program manager for the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Cincinnati, works on immigrant-rights issues. She explained since its inception in 2012, DACA has faced a myriad of legal challenges which have kept many Dreamers living in limbo.

"What I heard from our folks is, it's just exhausting," Searls remarked. "DACA recipients have to plan their whole lives out in small increments because it's unsure if the program's going to continue because of all of these developments."

The ruling bars the government from approving new applications for DACA, but left the program in place for existing recipients. Nine conservative states filed the lawsuit, claiming DACA was illegal because former President Barack Obama created the program under executive order, circumventing Congress.

Searls contended Dreamers need a permanent pathway to citizenship, which can be made possible through House and Senate bills currently under consideration.

"Congress has solutions in front of them right now," Searls asserted. "They just need to take the courage and do something. If anything, this ruling just highlights the fact that the urgency is there, and folks can't plan their lives while they wait on judges to make decisions."

The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center's Immigrant Dignity Coalition promotes the need for federal immigration legislation through its "Summer of Citizenship for All Campaign." Searls noted they're focusing on challenges facing the immigrant community, such as the lack of health-care services, while highlighting local immigrants who would benefit from permanency.

"A young man named Rolando shared his story and how education was such a gateway for his family, and how having citizenship would give access to higher education for millions of other families," Searls reported.

As of March 2020, an estimated 3,800 DACA recipients lived in Ohio.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

HOUSTON, Texas -- More than 20% of college-educated immigrants in the U.S., or two million people, are either unemployed or underemployed, according to new research.

The Migration Policy Institute, which authored the study, said the disparity accounts for significant "brain waste," and huge losses in potential taxes for state and local governments. The Institute's new research shows many foreign-trained professionals end up driving a taxi or doing janitorial work to make ends meet.

Courtney Brown, vice president of impact and planning at Lumina Foundation, which supported the report, said failing to use those talents results in devastating costs to workers and the nation.

"We're hurting individuals, we're hurting generations of individuals, the states' economies and the U.S. economy, because we're leaving all this talent on a shelf," Brown asserted. "We are not valuing what they're bringing here."

Brown noted the health-care worker shortage during the pandemic as an example. As the crisis worsened, some states reduced licensing barriers to tap the skills of foreign-trained experts. She pointed out while the results were mixed, the efforts brought the issue to light.

Brown believes helping immigrants succeed is an urgent national priority. The U.S. faces an estimated shortfall of eight million workers between now and 2027, amid declining birth rates and an aging workforce. She sees immigrants as a primary source of future labor-force growth.

"Black immigrants, as well as Black native-borns, are more likely to be underemployed," Brown observed. "So, an immigrant perhaps from the U.K., or a white immigrant that's foreign-trained, is not as likely to be underemployed as a Black immigrant."

In addition to race and ethnicity, the study found English proficiency and legal status are strong predictors of brain waste. Brown emphasized lost wages from trained migrants are estimated at nearly $40 billion annually, and as a result, governments lose $10 billion a year in tax revenue. She hopes President Biden's immigration reform bill will prompt positive changes.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.