Millions of U.S. kids could lose the Child Tax Credit under GOP budget bill, experts say

A Republican-backed budget package includes a new restriction for the federal Child Tax Credit that could strip the benefit from millions of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, according to policy experts. 

The proposed tax and spending legislation — which proponents have dubbed the "one big, beautiful bill" — includes a requirement that both a tax filer and the person's spouse have Social Security numbers to claim the Child Tax Credit, or CTC, for their kids. That means children with mixed-status parents, such as one parent who is a U.S. citizen and the second who is not, would no longer qualify for the tax credit, said Carl Davis, the research director of nonpartisan tax research group ITEP.

Children who are born in the U.S., making them American citizens, but whose parents are undocumented would also be barred from the CTC. In some cases, one or both parents of a child who is authorized to be in the U.S. may lack a Social Security numbers. For example, parents who are in the U.S. on non-working visas, such as graduate students on education visas, would be prohibited from receiving the tax credit.