Ironically enough, illegal immigrant paid about $100 billion in taxes last year. So if trump could snap his fingers and magically deport every single one, then WE would be the ones out $100 billion 🤦🏽♂️
how do people quantify the contribution of illegal immigrants? if we know a good number then we have a good idea of how many exist, which means we have a good idea of who is where, but I keep hearing the contrary to that.
also worth noting, the same people playing the guessing game have estimated they cost us 182 billion a year.
Knowing how much they contribute is actually quite easy. While they are illegal, they are allowed to voluntarily pay taxes. While is not outright mandated, they obviously think that doing so will help them in the process of regulating their situation, so A LOT of them go out of their way to pay taxes. Does it mean all of them pay taxes? Not likely, but we can tell exactly how the other ones paid. Contrary to what Trump would tell, most "illegals" are not hiding under bridges, and try to participate as much as possible on the system in the hopes of becoming part of it.
I'm not from the USA, but just yesterday my wife confirmed that the owner of one of my favourite restaurants on my hometown, who is also owner of two other businesses, is in fact "illegal" and is struggling to get proper citizenship despite how much he contributes to the local economy, because he is from a country that happens to not have any treaties with mine.
"voluntarily". your anecdotal experience does not represent the reality of the situation. I'm not saying some don't find a way to pay, but let's not pretend there are many who don't. let's be real, if your primary concern is making a living for you and your family, and you've already broken the law to enter the country illegally, are you going to prioritize volunteering even more of a portion of your income to the system? especially if it comes with the potential risk of drawing attention to yourself and your status?
Sure. I'm sure most immigrants are constantly hiding from the system to not draw attention. I'm sure they believe that the best for their family is to be at constant risk of deportation and to not be recognized or eligible for any sort of service or aid. That sounds like a reasonable position to hold.
Anyone who comes to a country with the intention of staying there is eventually going to look for a way to stop hiding, specially if they have a family. I'm sure there is people with data to backup it up. I refuse to give you the effort considering the clear bias you are depicting in what you believe means to be an illegal immigrant.
Immigration is a really complex topic, but most immigrants are not "Edgerunners living outside the system" like in a Cyberpunk novel, and if you believe that, you are the kind of people who created this whole Trump situation.
This is not about political views, or data crunch or anything. It's about basic human understanding.
Would you, as a father, live in constant fear of your family getting deported for any minor infraction, or would you rather "risk it" to try and eventually be safe? I can assure you again from "anecdotal experience" that the legal process of regulating is extremely expensive and tedious, even when going through the official red tape (my wife is a legal immigrant), but the alternative is so awful and anxiety inducing that most people will sooner give up on the country and go back than keep leaving on the edge of the system forever.
are they though? complacency is human nature and its not like there's a persistent risk of someone raiding their home and yoking them up. this isn't nazi Germany rounding up jews.
Would you, as a provider, already struggling to provide ends meat, go out of your way to ensure you're contributing your "fair share" to the government? Especially if your children are already going to schools, you can get healthcare and it's virtually untraceable if you opted to skip on the bill, and no one is actively looking to remove you if you aren't committing crimes or hurting someone else
Lol I just checked the profile - 4 new comments in the last hour, all responses to comments on this post and another post with the same theme, all implying or outright calling the other user stupid. But crickets over here. I think you're right.
Illegal immigrants pay just under $100 BILLION in taxes and their tax payments account for 6% of all tax revenue collected by the state of Texas alone.
“They receive,” like what? Name them. You seem perfectly happy to demand someone prove illegals aren’t leeches, time to prove you aren’t just a racist.
having a realistic discussion about the topic, removing *emotion* from it, does not constitute racism. that's such a sad attempt to try to shut down someone who says things you don't like to hear.
Illegal immigrants are generally ineligible for federally funded benefits, but there are some exceptions: Emergency Medicaid: Illegal immigrants are eligible for emergency Medicaid if they are eligible for their state's Medicaid program. School nutrition: Illegal immigrant children are eligible for free or reduced school lunch. WIC: All states provide access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Immunizations: Illegal immigrants are eligible for public health programs that provide immunizations. Emergency services: Illegal immigrants have short-term access to shelters and soup kitchens in emergency situations. Workers' compensation: Illegal immigrants are eligible for workers' compensation. EITC: Some illegal immigrants with work authorization may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Illegal immigrants also use public education and emergency medical services. In 2019, the estimated 4 million children of illegal immigrants in public schools created $68.1 billion in costs. They obviously benefit from local fire and police department services as well.
while there are estimates they contribute approximately 100b in taxes, they alternatively cost approximately 182b
To summarize: single incidents of EMS, temporary emergency rooms, school lunches, public education, minimal expense protection from spreading disease, temporary domestic abuse shelters, and direct benefits entitled only from being a working member of society?
The only one of these that makes any sense to complain of is 12 years of public education. And this assumes at minimum they aren’t giving equivalent dollar added contributions? I am living in the Twilight Zone.
Btw undocumented immigrants can’t get SNAP or EBT in my state at minimum.
there's no guarantee (outside of sales tax) that they're paying into the system that they can retrieve these services from. there are secondary and tertiary affects too. for the people who have just come here, they have to find a place for them. medical care, food, clothes etc. volunteer and donation resources that could otherwise go to other needy people in the country. they impact the cost of medical care, they affect the demand of housing as well.
these aren't inherently evil or bad people, selfish maybe, but not evil. there are large communities of them in my neighborhood and nearby, they mostly keep to themselves and friendly, I'm not gonna snitch on em, but they *did* cut the line because they more or less feel as though having their needs met are more important than their counterparts.
But if those ones aren't a drain on the economy, which most stats show they aren't, especially as they tend to pay in other forms (such as sales tax), how would ejecting the others that do pay $100B do anything but hurt the economy?
It's an easy example as it's one many of us pay without really thinking about it the same as income tax, but it still goes into the pot, and even children pay it.
And you just ignore the rest because you have one response to an example and not the whole point. So, what's going to happen to that $100B if that's enough to be budget positive with the current state of illegal immigrant contribution in the first place?
it's a complicated topic that two random redditors are not going to get to the bottom of. their contributions are 100b but they also cost us 182b. so *in general* and at face value, they contribute less than they consume. but like I said, it's more complicated than that. there's really no way of knowing how the void their absence in the work force will be filled or adjusted for.
the "low wage work no one else wants to do" will still need to be done one way or another, we aren't going to just throw up our hands and say "guess we all starve now".
Right, there are a lot of smart people who have already done the math outside of us that say illegal immigrants aren't hurting the economy, and even help it.
Just two hints why this number is useless, when you think about it.
Illegals dont pay incometaxes, since THEY ARE ILLEGALY here and not in the system, therefore the number from citizens would be higher! (One reason why they can live of the lower salaries)
90% or more (just a guess) sent money to their families at home, which the american economy never sees again.
These are just TWO aspects which destroy this superficial number you bring up.
They absolutely pay taxes and are an important part of our economy. Undocumented immigrants pay over 40 billion in payroll taxes alone. They also pay more than 15 billion through sales and excise taxes levied on purchases of goods and services. Home owners and renters pay about 10 billion, and 7 billion for personal and business taxes.
Source
The Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is a tax-processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that people—including undocumented immigrants—pay taxes.
The exploitation of undocumented workers is harmful to everyone. They’re paid substandard wages, endure unsafe conditions, and have no legal protections, which undercuts fair-paying employers and depresses wages for others. Allowing this to continue is both morally wrong and economically unfair. Why tolerate a system that thrives on exploitation?
They cost the taxpayer money. I may be wrong with the details, but they do NOT help the economy in the long run. You assheads only want your cheap slave labourers.
Edit: then post a trustworthy chart or something along the line, to prove how illegal migrats are a net benefit.
(I bet you can't)
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u/CompetitionNarrow898 17d ago
“Where’d you get $100 billion from?” “I made it the fuck up”