If you’ve ever overpaid your income taxes, you’ve probably received a tax rebate. That is, if you’re a US citizen. As KSFR learned, many of New Mexico’s thousands of undocumented immigrant taxpayers haven’t received state income tax rebates since 2012. Instead, they’ve received streams of letters claiming they owe New Mexico Taxation and Revenue hundreds or even thousands of dollars in back taxes.
The issue is the subject of a pair of civil lawsuits against TRD secretary Demesia Padilla, brought by immigrant families, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. KSFR’s Kate Powell brings you the first in a two-part series on how this problem has taken root, and what’s being done to end it.
To listen to part two of this story, Click Here.