The 11 million immigrants living without legal status in the U.S. pay $11.6 billion in state and local taxes each year, including $358.7 million in Georgia, a new report shows.
Those numbers would go up by $800 million and $42.1 million respectively each year, if the U.S. Supreme Court were to uphold President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Further, they would go up by $2.1 billion and $105.6 million respectively each year, if Congress were to passage legislation granting a pathway to legal status for the 11 million immigrants living here illegally.
Immigrants without papers pay taxes when they buy goods and services, including utilities, gas and food. They also pay property taxes on their homes or indirectly through rent. Many also pay income taxes.
“Regardless of the politically contentious nature of immigration reform, the data show undocumented immigrants greatly contribute to our nation’s economy, not just in labor but also with tax dollars,” said Meg Wiehe, the institute’s state tax policy director.
In 2013, bipartisan Senate legislation that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants without legal status stalled in the Republican-led House. Citing inaction by Congress, Obama announced the following year that he was acting unilaterally to overhaul parts of the nation's immigration system. His actions prompted a legal challenge from Georgia and two dozen other states. That case is now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Critics of illegal immigration cite the burden it places on taxpayer-funded resources, including public schools and courts. In 2013, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, released a report that says immigrants living illegally in the U.S. would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits if they were to receive a route to citizenship and would pay $3.1 trillion in taxes over their lifetime, leaving a $6.3 trillion deficit. The report says it takes into account a wide range of taxpayer costs, including expenses for public schools, police, roads, Social Security and Medicare.
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