New Study Shows Just How Much Undocumented Immigrants Actually Contribute (2141 hits)
One of the main reasons that Donald Trump has been able to successfully catapult himself from reality television star to dominant Republican presidential frontrunner is his unrivaled ability to vilify undocumented immigrants. More than any other candidate in the race, he's been able to capitalize on the anxiety among many conservatives that undocumented immigrants are people who take from citizens without giving anything in return.
One of the ways he does this is by referring to how much unauthorized immigrants cost, repeatedly charging that they don't pay taxes and benefit from "free tax credits." But just as with so many other things the billionaire showman says, his claims on this front are contradicted by the facts.
Undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $12 billion in taxes to the federal government annually. But that's just for Uncle Sam. A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that undocumented immigrants also pay quite a lot in state and local taxes — $11.6 billion a year. And that amount would increase significantly if the U.S. was to undertake serious immigration reform.
