Myth: Immigrants Do Not Pay Taxes

MYTH: "Immigrants don't pay taxes"

On average, undocumented immigrants contribute more in taxes than they consume in public benefits, and are estimated to have contributed nearly $50 billion in federal taxes between 1996 and 2003. They also contribute between $7-8 billion in social security funds annually--that's $100 billion in the past 15 years that they will never claim.

By legalizing the undocumented workforce, we will bring these workers out of the underground economy and increase social security and federal tax revenue. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that if the 2007 immigration reform bill had passed, legalizing 12 million undocumented immigrants, it would have generated $48 billion in new federal revenue through 2008-2017.5 Likewise, legalizing immigrants will contribute significantly to the social security system since immigrants tend to be younger than the native-born.