The Trump Administration has directed the IRS to work with ICE to identify suspected undocumented immigrants who are paying taxes to target more people for their indiscriminate deportations. Aside from the dangerous privacy violations this presents to all Americans, this is yet another escalation to target hard-working immigrants who are contributors to our economy and trying to do right by paying into our tax system. At a time when our economy is floundering, instead of targeting workers, we should be legalizing them so they can fully integrate into our economy. Here is what you need to know about undocumented immigrants and their contributions via their taxes.
- $89.8 billion: The amount of money undocumented workers paid in taxes in 2023 alone.
- Includes $33.9B in state and local taxes and $55.8B in federal taxes
- $8,889: The average amount an undocumented person pays in taxes annually — this money goes to help fund essential services in our communities that benefit us all.
- $100 billion: The amount of money undocumented immigrants paid into Social Security over the previous decade, according to SSA estimates. Worth noting that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Social Security, thus they are subsidizing this critical program for U.S. citizens.
- 5.27%: The federal tax rate that undocumented immigrants pay, which is more than what some wealthy Americans and corporations pay. In fact, they paid higher rates than five of the richest Americans, according to ProPublica data.
- 8.9% The state and local tax rate that undocumented immigrants pay. This means that they pay a higher share of their income toward these taxes than many of those in the top 1 percent
- $1.1 to 1.7 trillion: The amount we would subtract from our economy if we were to deport millions of undocumented workers.
- $8.9 billion: The amount lost in tax revenue for every 1 million undocumented immigrants deported under mass deportation.
- $40-137 billion: The amount in revenue we could add to our economy if we were to provide work authorization for the undocumented.
The links above provide key data to better understand the contributions undocumented immigrants make and are worth reading. The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy report “Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants” breaks down in detail how their contributions fund each level of the government. The Americans for Tax Fairness analysis is also notable because of its analysis on how corporations get more government funding than immigrants– among them is this nugget: Elon Musk has received over $13 billion in government subsidies.
