WASHINGTON, DC – Today leading advocates from Color Of Change, UnidosUS, and Economic Security Project Action called on Congress to make the Child Tax Credit permanent, pointing to the benefits families have seen in the first two months and the long-term projections for creating economic equity. They argued in a letter signed by more than 50 organizations that particular provisions, including permanent full refundability (eligibility for the lowest-income families) and restoring eligibility for immigrant children with Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs), are crucial steps towards racial equity and cutting child poverty in half. 

Watch full recording here: economicsecproj.org/ctc-press-0908

“This call comes as the House Ways and Means Committee begins to consider budget legislation, an important step in the reconciliation process,” said Katrina Gamble, Senior Advisor at Economic Security Project Action. “We believe that the Child Tax Credit is an essential component of the Build Back Better agenda and can be a driver of economic and racial equity. We need to make the Child Tax Credit permanent.”

“We know that after just the first few payments the expanded Child Tax Credit is changing lives. Early data shows the expanded Child Tax Credit is directly reducing hunger among families with kids, with outsized improvements among families of color,” said Amanda Jackson, Economic Justice Campaign Director at Color Of Change. “Full refundability and full access are essential components to achieve the White House’s goals of creating a racially equitable Child Tax Credit, and cutting child poverty in half.”

“A permanently expanded Child Tax Credit, including full refundability, must include the immigrant children who were previously eligible but cruelly excluded by President Trump in 2017. Among the only families and households to get a tax increase in 2017 were immigrant households,” said Eric Rodriguez, Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at UnidosUS. “This will directly help millions of families, while slashing child poverty and helping address historic injustices. This is the moment….When the need is great and there’s a recognition and understanding that equity is an important component of anything that we do with respect to our investments in the country.”As it helps nearly all families meet their important needs, study after study has demonstrated that the expanded Child Tax Credit is one of the most effective means of lifting families out of poverty, especially people of color.