Study says undocumented immigrants paid almost $100 billion in taxes

[Diamond_Dog]

Last edited Fri Nov 8, 2024, 07:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Article is from August 2024

A new study shows that undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue in 2022 while many are shut out of the programs their taxes fund. The findings run counter to anti-immigrant rhetoric that undocumented immigrants are “destroying” social programs.

In 40 states, undocumented immigrants paid higher tax rates than the top 1% of the income scale in those states, according to a study released Tuesday from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning, nonprofit think tank.

The study, which uses estimates of undocumented immigrants’ tax contributions as of 2022, shows those totaled $96.7 billion that year. Study authors also found that undocumented immigrants would contribute $40.2 billion more per year in federal, state and local taxes if all of the undocumented population had access to work authorization. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reasoned that this boost would come from higher wages associated with employment authorization and easier compliance with income tax laws.

The report also shed further light on the tax revenue provided by undocumented immigrants on the state and local level. Undocumented immigrants are paying 46% of their state and local tax payments through sales and excise taxes. Six states — New Jersey, New York, California, Florida, Texas, and Illinois — were able to raise more than $1 billion each in tax revenue from undocumented immigrants, the nonprofit said.

More at link

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/08/05/study-says-undocumented-immigrants-paid-almost-100-billion-in-taxes/

How many times were we bombarded with right wing ads proclaiming that Harris was giving Social Security to illegals? (as if she herself started a program to do so which is ABSURD)

I wish Dems would have run ads describing the above.

[Jit423]

1. They can stop paying those taxes now and take their money back home.

I wonder if anyone will even show them the necessary paperwork to get that done?

[Hekate]

6. "Their money" is from jobs here, & it's why they came in the first place. Going back where they came from

…is not necessarily an option.

As for taxes paid — payroll taxes, federal and state taxes, sales taxes. Every hour of every day they pay taxes here. They shop in local US stores, buy gas, pay rent — they are big contributors to the American economy.

[CousinIT]

2. Undocumented immigrants quietly pay billions into Social Security and receive no benefits

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/01/28/undocumented-immigrants-quietly-pay-billions-social-security-and-receive-no/

If all undocumented immigrants were deported today, next year’s Social Security trust funds would have approximately $13 billion less for benefit payouts. It’s a considerable loss of dollars, especially when it’s projected that the Social Security funds will be depleted by 2034.

According to New American Economy, undocumented immigrants contributed $13 billion into the Social Security funds in 2016 and $3 billion to Medicare. Three years prior, the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, Stephen Goss, wrote a report that estimated undocumented immigrants contributed $12 billion into Social Security.

. . .

How undocumented immigrants pay into Social Security

Payroll tax, the 12 percent tax taken out of salaried workers’ paychecks, split between employer and employee, primarily funds Social Security, accounting for 88 percent of the payouts in 2017. Undocumented workers typically use a fake SSN or someone else’s SSN when applying for salaried jobs. Only a handful of U.S. states require employers to check an employee’s eligibility and their SSN through E-Verify, a Department of Homeland Security database. Other states have varying levels of E-Verify requirements, from partial to none.

Undocumented immigrants’ payments into the Social Security funds become a murkier matter when they are self-employed. By law, anyone earning an income while in the United States is required to pay taxes, even if they are breaking other laws in doing so.

“The government, the IRS, will never say no to your tax dollars,” said Abigail Zapote, the executive director of the D.C.-based nonprofit Latinos for a Secure Retirement, with a laugh.

[mike_c]

3. who were the undocumented immigrants?

As I understand it, the demographics of migrants have changed quite a bit. Most of the immigrants at the southern border used to be unaccompanied men and boys seeking jobs and better wages among their neighbors to the north. Those men crossed the border in secret, then tried to disappear into the population. They were truly undocumented once hidden, performing mostly low wage jobs that employers struggled to find US citizens willing to work.

Today, many migrants are families, women, and unaccompanied children, and more to the point, they seek humanitarian asylum, for which there is a clear set of legal guidelines to follow. These migrants cross the border and then either wait for CBP to locate them or they call CBP on the phone. They are not trying to disappear into the population. Once contacted by CBP, they are given water and food if they need it, and most importantly, they're issued a preliminary court date to appear in immigration court to make the case for their asylum request. Once they've been summoned, they are no longer undocumented. In fact, they have been issued papers allowing them to remain in the US at least until their court appearance. In other words, they are documented, not undocumented.

The immigration laws provide this humanitarian respite and give migrants a legal path to asylum if they can demonstrate the danger they face if they return to their places of origin. They must request asylum from inside the US. There are no restrictions regarding where they can cross the border, and as I understand it, once in the US they have up to one year to request asylum.

Democrats have ignored this, and allowed republicans to frame legal asylum issues as illegal undocumented immigration, which it mostly is not. Again, this is based on my understanding of asylum law.

[MichMan]

5. The majority of asylum claims are ultimately denied

Those found ineligible are required by law to self deport and return to their countries of origin, even after starting a life here.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[a kennedy]

7. K & R

Keep this ON TOP OF ALL TOPICS...... please....