IRS glitch halted Child Tax Credit payments for families with an immigrant spouse
CBSN
Some families that were expecting the first payment of the Child Tax Credit last month were disappointed when the money didn't arrive. And they were more disappointed when they found out they shared a common denominator: They were so-called "mixed-status" families, with one parent being a U.S. citizen and the other an immigrant.
One such worker, who asked that their name not be used because of concern about their immigration status with their employer, said they had been expecting $250 for their child, who is a U.S. citizen, as is their spouse. But when the money didn't arrive on July 15, they soon realized that many other "mixed-status" families had experienced the same problem. But these mixed-status families may qualify for the Child Tax Credit payments: Under the American Rescue Plan, parents who file their taxes with either a Social Security number or an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and whose children have Social Security numbers will qualify for the payments. To be sure, they also need to meet income and age eligibility, as do families where both parents are U.S. citizens.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.