The research has been more than clear: immigrants contribute – a lot. In Dallas alone, immigrant households contributed nearly one billion in state and local taxes in 2022, the American Immigration Council said in findings released this past April in partnership with the city of Dallas. That research, “Economic Impact Report: New Americans in Dallas,” is now featured in a new report from The Dallas Morning News, which further highlights the stories of several immigrant entrepreneurs, health care specialists, and workers who are vital contributors to their communities.
Mexican immigrant Ricardo Martínez said that he got his start “picking up trash at construction sites” before being promoted in the industry. “He eventually was one of thousands of workers who helped build Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers’ home,” The Dallas Morning News said:
Martínez worked from 2005 to 2009 building Dallas Cowboys Stadium and has worked on other vital projects in the region.
His involvement in this landmark building makes him proud to represent Hispanic immigrants and to be an example for his three children.
“I am building a legacy for the city, but I am also building the example that I want to give my children: that Hispanics are good people dedicated to working,” Martínez said.
In nearby Arlington, nurse practitioner Maria Mosomi exemplifies the crucial role that immigrants play in health care. Nationwide, one in six registered nurses is foreign-born, and as a major nursing shortage threatens patients and clinics like, it’s immigrant workers who can help fill these gaps. Mosomi certainly is doing her part. She comes from a family of nurses, and now in her own capacity runs a clinic that treats hundreds of patients with mental illness and other health issues, The Dallas Morning News continued:
“I wanted to start my own practice because I really wanted to make an impact in my patient’s lives,” said Mosomi in the report, which highlighted her story. Mosomi was 8 years old when her family emigrated from Tanzania to the U.S.
Her parents were also nurses who worked their way up from nursing assistants to licensed vocational nurses in the United States.
“What you see with a lot of immigrant children is tenacity, because they are the ones closing the gaps between two worlds,” Mosomi said.
Immigrants also play major roles in other health-related fields. “In 2019, 36.5% of all home health aides in the United States were immigrants, a rate that was twice their share of the U.S. workforce overall (17.1%),” researcher Karen Aho wrote at Immigration Impact last year. “This includes undocumented workers, who made up an estimated 6.9% of home health aides and 4.4% of personal care aides.”
The Dallas Morning News and American Immigration Council report also highlighted the region’s immigrant entrepreneurs, like Ken Tse, a Chinese immigrant who has lived in the U.S. since he was ten. Numerous studies have found that immigrants start businesses at higher rates than U.S.-born Americans. In Dallas, immigrant entrepreneurs make up nearly 39% of business owners despite representing just over 23% of the population. “Research in the report establishes that 29,100 immigrant entrepreneurs generated $804.8 million in business income in Dallas,” The Dallas Morning News continued:
“Like all immigrants, I learned the work ethic through my parents. For them, it’s hope, it’s opportunity, it’s sacrifice after sacrifice,” Tse said in the report.
In 2010, Tse opened his own firm, KMT Architects, and in the same year, he cofounded New Hope Compassion, a nonprofit that works with local and international partners to bring humanitarian supplies, programs, and hope to people in need.
Locally, he helps the underserved, school children and young professionals with supplies and mentorship.
“As I’m reflecting back on my life as an immigrant, I know we’re grateful for everything we’ve got,” Tse said in the American Immigration Council report. “But also it’s our obligation to give back, to serve our community, not just here locally but also globally.”
The report also finds that nearly 11,000 Dallas residents are beneficiaries of the DACA program, contributing more than $35 million in local and state taxes in 2022. Past research from the Center for American Progress found that DACA recipients also outpaced U.S.-born Americans when it comes to opening a business.
“Analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey shows that immigrant-led households paid $524.7 billion in total taxes in 2021, a slight increase since 2019,” Immigration Impact said last year. More recent research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy revealed that undocumented immigrants are also massive contributors, paying an astounding $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.
Putting these long-settled workers onto a pathway to legalization would be a massive economic boon for the nation, pumping an additional $40 billion in tax revenue into the nation’s coffers, ITEP said. Immigration has been good for the country – and creating a process for millions of long-settled workers and families to get in line and fix their immigration status would continue to be beneficial to the nation’s economy and future, while also taking pressure off of the U.S. Mexico border. In Dallas and across the nation, immigrants show their potential each and every day.
RELATED: Immigrants Contribute A Lot – Just Ask The Researchers
