Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill: Immigrants face cuts, new remittance tax

The Bill, formally titled the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, combines tax cuts with strict immigration-related provisions

The US Senate on Tuesday narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s 940-page tax and spending bill, which merges sweeping tax cuts with tough immigration provisions and is expected to add $3.3 trillion to the national debt.

 

Dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, it passed 51–50 after over 24 hours of debate, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Only three Republican senators broke ranks. Trump had earlier warned that failure to pass the bill would be the “ultimate betrayal”.

 

Tighter rules on tax credits and remittances

 

One of the headline changes affects the child tax credit, which will rise to $2,500 through 2028. But the benefit will now only be available to children whose parents have Social Security numbers, excluding many undocumented families, even if their children are US citizens.

 

 

Another provision imposes a 5% tax on money transfers sent abroad by non-citizens—including green card holders and those on visas. The rule is set to take effect from July 4, 2025.

 

“For example, if you send $1,160—or around ₹100,000—to your parents in India, you may have to pay ₹5,000 more in tax,” said Rajarshi Dasgupta, executive director – tax. “That money will be collected by the remittance provider—be it Western Union, MoneyGram or a bank—and passed on to the US government every quarter,” he told Business Standard.

 

Healthcare and welfare limitations

 

Access to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will be further restricted for undocumented immigrants and certain legal residents, including those on temporary work permits or with refugee status.

 

The Bill also brings forward work requirements for Medicaid recipients, a move that could affect immigrants in low-income jobs.

 

The White House defended the restrictions, saying the Bill “protects Medicaid” by “ending benefits for at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants”.

 

Billions set aside for immigration enforcement

 

The Bill allocates $12 billion for new border enforcement measures, including more physical barriers, an expansion of detention capacity, and the hiring of additional immigration and customs officers.

 

A conservative immigration group, the Immigration Accountability Project, praised the funding increase.

 

“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the House is about to vote on, will provide a critical investment in interior immigration enforcement and border security,” the group said on X (formerly Twitter).

 

“It funds 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, 100,000 additional detention beds, and more prosecutors and immigration judges. It also provides sufficient resources to Customs and Border Protection to build the wall and keep our borders secure.

 

“The One Big Beautiful Bill will be a game changer for the men and women of ICE and CBP who work every day to keep our nation safe.”

 

According to the group, $150 billion has been earmarked for immigration enforcement and border protection efforts. They also welcomed recent changes to the Bill that limit access to benefits like SNAP, Obamacare, and Medicaid for undocumented migrants.

 

Tax cuts for the rich, losses for the poor

 

An earlier review by the Congressional Budget Office had suggested the Bill’s benefits would fall unevenly across income groups.

 

“In general, resources would decrease for households in the lowest decile (tenth) of the income distribution, whereas resources would increase for households in the highest decile,” the agency said.

 

Martha Gimbel, executive director and co-founder of the Yale Budget Lab, said the Bill benefits wealthier Americans at the expense of those relying on public support.

 

“It doesn’t really matter if people at the bottom are getting relatively small tax cuts if they're losing their health care, they're losing their SNAP benefits and they're having to pay more money in tariffs,” Gimbel told USA Today.