Headline from Mic online reads, “New Study Shows Just How Much Undocumented Immigrants Actually Contribute.” Some startling statistics reveal the bigger story:
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.
Immigrants contribute in three ways, according to report, through income tax, sales tax and property tax. Social security is also collected but not stored for their later use.
My father tells a story about how his great grandfather and brother from Ireland slept out in a tent for a time after they arrived as immigrants to America. It was the first time they’d ever seen lightening bugs, like lanterns to heaven.
Aging infrastructure and aging population of naturalized citizens in America would seem to necessitate that we have enough young people with strong backs to make necessary repairs to roads, railroad tracks and bridges, for instance. The billions paid by immigrants in taxes could provide just the funding for such worthy endeavors.
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