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Politics

Try again after you have the facts - Sm

Posted: Jun 22nd, 2019 - 5:03 pm In Reply to: Educate yourself about the actual cost of having illegals here - vs what any of them MIGHT be

Myth #1: Immigrants take more from the U.S. government than they contribute

Fact: Immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits

A 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found immigration "has an overall positive impact on the long-run economic growth in the U.S."

How that breaks down is important.

First-generation immigrants cost the government more than native-born Americans, according to the report — about $1,600 per person annually. But second generation immigrants are "among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S.," the report found. They contribute about $1,700 per person per year. All other native-born Americans, including third generation immigrants, contribute $1,300 per year on average.

After being detained and released by law enforcement, undocumented immigrants from Central America wait for assistance with bus transportation to travel elsewhere in the U.S. at the Catholic Charities relief center in McAllen, Texas. The affects of unauthorized immigrations on the U.S. economy are difficult to measure, but researchers believe they use fewer government resources because they are not eligible for most public benefits. Photo by Loren Elliott/Reuters.
After being detained and released by law enforcement, undocumented immigrants from Central America wait for assistance in a Catholic Charities relief center in McAllen, Texas. Photo by Loren Elliott/Reuters.

It is difficult to determine the exact cost or contribution of unauthorized immigrants because they are harder to survey, but the study suggests they likely have a more positive effect than their legal counterparts because they are, on average, younger and do not qualify for public benefits.

It's also important to note that less-educated immigrants tend to work more than people with the same level of education born in the U.S. About half of all U.S.-born Americans with no high school diploma work, compared to about 70 percent of immigrants with the same education level, Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, said in a recent interview with PBS NewsHour.

WATCH:Proposed immigration policy penalizes legal residents for use of public benefits

In general, more people working means more taxes — and that's true overall with undocumented immigrants as well. Undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.6 billion a year in taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy.

Undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.6 billion a year in taxes.
Immigrants are also less likely to take public benefits than the native-born population for two reasons.

First, to receive most public benefits under the social safety net, immigrants must be lawful permanent residents for at least five years.

There are approximately 9 million immigrants that fit that definition in the U.S. Of those, many would not qualify for welfare or other programs because their incomes are too high.

"While it is really important to ensure that immigrants and their children have access to the safety net, there are already a lot of eligibility barriers in place," said Hamutal Bernstein, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute.

Many immigrants are hesitant to take public benefits even if they are eligible, Peri said.

"There is a little bit of a stigma in applying for welfare because they have come here to work, to support their families," Peri said.

Immigrants can be a financial burden to state and local governments through the cost of sending their children to public school — something Trump mentioned Thursday.

But Trump's claim ignored a critical point. Educating those children has economic benefits later down the road when they get better-paying jobs and, in turn, pay higher taxes.



LINK/URL: Try again after you have the facts

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