The fact is that a stunning two-thirds of the undocumented population pay taxes at will and pay into Medicare, Social Security and personal income taxes. And they may not have legal documents but every time they buy goods and services and pay fees and taxes they contribute to the United States economy. While this fact is never mentioned by the nativist current in the debate they push the line that the undocumented are a colossal drain on the nation’s hospitals, schools and welfare programs consuming services that they don’t pay for.
Obfuscated from the reality of the true situation is the fact that since 1996 the Clinton Welfare Reform Law has disqualified the undocumented from nearly all means-tested and entitlement programs including food stamps, housing assistance, Medicaid and Medicare and other human-services program. The only services that the undocumented now have access to are emergency medical care and K-12 education.
Even with this heavy burden on them the Republican Right wing has passed a number of other draconian laws that now make life a living Hell for the undocumented. And what they could not get passed in the Congress they have urged their counterparts at both the state and local levels to pass laws that criminalize, ostracize and stigmatize the undocumented – the vast majority of whom have committed only one legal transgression that of overstaying their time in the United States.
Already living in the shadows of society the undocumented are exploited by unscrupulous employers, landlords and others who prey on their helplessness to make profits. Not satisfied to criminalize the undocumented both House and Senate Republicans have authored all kinds of bills that seek to make it a criminal offense for decent humane Americans and family members to help the undocumented.
Even charitable acts by priests, nurses and social workers and any soup kitchen that offers free meals to the undocumented could face up to five years in prison and seizure of assets. The Senate bill that recently collapsed would have tempered these draconian measures against private aid. But no one — Democrat or Republican — seems to be opposed to the idea of withholding public services. To avoid what one Republican lawmaker called “theft of these benefits by illegal aliens” Congress has passed a law that requires Medicaid recipients to offer proof of US citizenship – something that further complicates the delivery of health care for all who need it and sets doctors on a collusion course with politics.
But it is time that we put to rest the perception that immigrants are coming to the United States to become wards of the state, to steal American jobs and to compete with citizens for entitlement programs and services. According to a study by the Urban Institute, the 1996 welfare reform effort dramatically reduced the use of welfare by undocumented immigrant households. And another vital thing happened in 1996: the Internal Revenue Service began issuing identification numbers to enable illegal immigrants who don't have Social Security numbers to file taxes.
For those who seek to criminalize the undocumented here are a few other facts. When the feds started to issue these tax ID numbers the undocumented were elated and today approximately 8 million of the reported 12 million of them now regularly file taxes with the IRS. This undocumented population annually contributes about $10 billion to the government’s coffers. But more than that this demonstrates the desire of the undocumented to come out of the shadows and play by the rules.
And while the USCIS continues to make workplace raids the undocumented who are gainfully employed have Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from their paychecks. But most of the “work numbers” are false and so the undocumented will never be able to collect these benefits. In 2006 that money paid by the undocumented to the Social Security Administration accounted for 10 percent of its surplus of $50 billion dollars.
The undocumented pay state sales taxes that helps in the maintenance of our roads and other public facilities. Property taxes paid through their high rent costs contribute towards the public schooling of their children. In fact, one research organization, the National Research Council, found that when the taxes paid by the undocumented are analyzed and tabulated the research found that individually they contribute an average of $80,000 more to the federal government than they consume.
To those who say that the undocumented is a drain on US resources, who take jobs from American workers, and who mooch off of health services and entitlement programs the facts do not jive with the spin. It is one thing to beat up on a defenseless population and another to be hypocritical and dishonest when it comes to presenting the American people with the facts about immigration.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
