Editor’s Note: A version of this story was first published in 2019.
CNN
—
It’s a surprising fact often overlooked in the immigration debate.
Experts estimate undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal taxes annually, between tax returns filed and taxes withheld from wages.
Here’s why – and how – it’s happening:
National Immigration Law Center break some reason Why do undocumented immigrants pay taxes?include:
• It shows 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.
• Tax returns can be used to document work history and presence in the United States, steps that could help them qualify for lawful immigration status in the future if legislators approve through immigration reform.
Critics of illegal immigration have long argued that undocumented immigrants can do so because they are using stolen Social Security numbers. But millions of dollars in federal taxes are paid every year by people who don’t have Social Security numbers at all.
Instead, they apply using what is known as Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
The Center for Bipartisan Policy, a Washington-based think tank, notes that “most experts believe that the majority of tax returns filed with ITINs today are filed by undocumented immigrants.”
Some noncitizens who legally immigrated to the United States also pay taxes under this method.
In 2015, according to the IRS4.35 million tax returns were filed using ITINs, representing more than $13.6 billion in taxes.
In addition to tax returns, officials have estimated that undocumented immigrants also contribute billions of dollars to Social Security annually through payroll tax deductions. For example, in 2010, The Social Security Administration estimates that payments from unauthorized workers account for about $12 billion in tax revenue for Social Security.
In recent years, posts by immigrant rights advocates on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok during tax season have drawn attention to the issue.
“Undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in taxes to fund programs they cannot access,” National Immigration Law Center Written in a series of recent social media posts.
In 2017, Belén Sisa’s post about her tax filing experience went viral.
“Do you want to tell me again how I should be deported, contributing nothing and just preying on this country while the richest 1% of the people in this country steal from you every day? ” wrote Sisa, then a college student in Arizona.
The beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Children program later told CNN she felt it was important to speak up.
“I want to show people that we are here, we are from all over the world, and we contribute more than people think,” she said.
Jose Antonio VargasPulitzer Prize-winning activist turned journalist who turned her struggles as an undocumented immigrant into a platform for advocacy, tweeted that he was finalizing his taxes last weekend.
“Yes,” he wrote, “undocumented immigrants are helping fund our very system of detention and deportation.”
