()– The payment of taxes by undocumented immigrants is a surprising fact that is often overlooked in the immigration debate in the United States.
Experts estimate that undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal taxes each year. Values that are calculated from the income statements submitted and the taxes deducted from their payroll.
Let’s see why and how this happens.
Why do some undocumented immigrants choose to pay taxes?
The National Immigration Law Center outlines a number of reasons undocumented immigrants pay taxes, including:
- It shows that they are complying with federal tax laws.
- It can help them demonstrate “good moral character” if they later have the opportunity to legalize their immigration status in the US.
- Tax return records may be used to document employment history and presence in the United States. These records could help immigrants obtain legal immigration status if lawmakers pass immigration reform.
How do some people pay taxes despite not having a Social Security number?
Critics of irregular immigration have long argued that undocumented immigrants who pay taxes can do so because they use stolen Social Security numbers. But, people who do not have any Social Security numbers pay millions of dollars in federal taxes using the ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number).
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank, notes that “most experts believe that the vast majority of tax returns filed with ITINs today are filed by undocumented immigrants.”
Some non-citizens who legally immigrated to the United States also pay taxes using this method.
In 2019, according to the IRS, more than 2.5 million tax returns were filed using ITINs, representing nearly $6 billion in taxes.
Undocumented immigrants contribute billions to Social Security through payroll tax deductions. In 2010, the Social Security Administration estimated that unauthorized workers contributed about $12 billion through tax payments.
Immigrant rights advocates demonstrate on social media
Posts by immigrant rights advocates on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok during tax season have drawn attention to this issue.
“Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes to fund programs they can’t access,” the National Immigration Law Center wrote in a series of recent social media posts.
In 2017, Belén Sisa’s post about her experience paying taxes went viral.
“You want to tell me again how I should be deported, contribute nothing and just take advantage of this country while the richest 1% of people in this country steal from you every day?” wrote Sisa, who was a college student in Arizona. at that moment.
The beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program later told that she felt it was important to speak up.
“I wanted to show people that we are here, and that we come from all over the world, and that we contribute more than people think,” he said.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist José Antonio Vargas has transformed his experience as an undocumented immigrant into an important outreach and advocacy platform. In 2019, while taking a break from completing his taxes, he decided to share his experience on Twitter.
“Yes,” he wrote, “undocumented immigrants are helping to finance the very systems that detain and deport us.”
