Sen. Adam Schiff: ‘Why File Your Taxes If They Are Going to Use Them Against You to Deport You’

Schiff: “What concerns me gravely, because now they’re using courthouses as a fulcrum for immigration policy. They’re using the IRS to enforce immigration policy. They’re taking people’s appointments with immigration to turn around and deport them even when people go to get their citizenship, take their citizenship oath. What that’s going to mean is fewer undocumented people willing to go to court. And most of the time, when undocumented people go to court, they’re not the defendant, they’re the victim or they’re the witness. So they’re not going to participate in the justice system. Why file your taxes if they’re going to use your taxes against you to deport you? So it’s going to mean a lot of people aren’t going to be paying their taxes that would normally be paying taxes. People aren’t going to show up for their immigration appointments because they’ll fear they’re going to be used to just grab them instead of whatever process they’re in. So it’s going to mean millions of people going deeper into the shadows, which is not in the interest of law enforcement or tax collection or society. So, in the bigger picture, I think it’s a real mistake.”