Yes, even the undocumented immigrants pay taxes. The pictures above show how much more in millions will undocumented immigrants be paying if executive actions are fully implemented. This graphic break-down by states is provided by the well respected Institute Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). ITEP finds that undocumented immigrants already contribute $11.84 dollars in state and local taxes. Full implementation of the President’s executive actions in 2012 and 2014 would increase yet another $845 million. A full reform would increase the tax revenue by $2.2 billion.
At any time, the suspicion that immigrants do not pay their fair share is unreasonable. Immigrants always face harder upward strife, harder than those experienced by the native. Meanwhile, undocumented immigrants, much like the middle-class Americans, cannot utilize fancy deductions to save millions. Immigrants, documented or undocumented, are honest taxpayers who cannot afford to use much tax deductions. The graph below concisely shows a compelling conclusion by ITEP:
Indeed, undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than what the top 1% do. They pay about as much as the middle-class Americans do. Mainstream voters should not hold grudges regarding downward economic performance against hard-working immigrants. It’s time to move on.
