Make the Rich Richer Again

The latest GOP tax plan… a trip down memory lane from old Trump tax cuts and new political favors, is being paraded around as “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But let’s be real: it’s a massive handout to the wealthy, sold to us as economic policy. If you’re an immigrant, a low-income worker, or anyone just trying to survive in this economy, this bill makes one thing clear: you’re not the priority, and you never were.

Let’s start with the basics:

This bill makes permanent the 2017 Trump tax cuts for individuals, including the larger standard deduction and higher income brackets, which sounds great until you realize who actually benefits. These changes might seem like “stability” on paper, but they mostly help high earners.

Then there’s the permanent expansion of business perks, like full expensing for equipment and a 23% deduction for certain businesses that don’t even pay the corporate tax rate. Translation? Corporations and wealthy business owners are getting a break, while everyone else pays full price.

Meanwhile, the bill waters down the cap on state and local tax deductions, raising it to $40,000 for people making under $500,000.

That’s not middle-class relief efforts, it’s a luxury tax cut for people already doing just fine.

This is what we’re calling tax reform? It’s not reform. It’s redistribution…upward.

Protesting in the U.S. Capitol. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

And here’s where it hits even harder: immigrants. This bill isn’t just neutral on immigration, it’s actively hostile to the lives of immigrants who are working-class, underpaid, and disadvantaged to opportunities the average American has. Think about the millions of immigrant families in the U.S., many paying taxes through ITINs, others working jobs that literally keep the country afloat, and yet, they’re still excluded from the full benefits of the tax system.

Do they get investment write-offs? Trump accounts? Business pass-through deductions? Of course not.

Instead, they get crumbs…. if that.

This tax “policy” isn’t just unfair. It’s structurally rigged against immigrants.

It prioritizes people with generational wealth and financial advisors, not people sending remittances, not people trying to save for a family emergency, not people raising kids across borders and working three jobs to pay rent.

It’s economic malpractice. Immigrants aren’t a drain on the system: they are the system….

They build the housing, serve the food, care for the children and elderly, and pay taxes, often without getting a say in where those dollars go… even when said dollars pay for trips to Guantanamo and other efforts to send away those who often steady the economy.

And yet here we are again, watching a bill that offers zero meaningful inclusion for all, while offering billion-dollar benefits to those at the very top.

And don’t get fooled by the flashy “Trump accounts” or bonuses. These new tax-initiative savings accounts sound great… until you realize they’re almost useless to the people who would need them most. Immigrants and people from underrepresented communities often face barriers to opening these accounts at all, beyond that of financial need. And even if they can open such, they’re saving dimes while the wealthy grow investments tax-free.

So what are we left with? A bloated, complicated tax “reform” that rewards the rich, ignores immigrants, and makes everyday people jump through hoops to get the bare minimum.

There’s nothing “beautiful” about that.

Photo Credit:

[Header]: Left Voice

[Embedded 1]: AP Photo | Manuel Balce Ceneta