Undocumented Immigrants: Do They Cause Economical Debates?

Undocumented Immigrants
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Undocumented Immigrants
The issues of race or the country’s election or the topic of abortion are considered as some of the most polarizing in the history of the United States. However, there is one more issue that appears to be just as divisive as these issues, and it is the plight of the undocumented immigrants. From the President to the domestic citizen, there appear to be certain issues about undocumented immigrants that happen to cause people to argue and never find common ground. On the one hand, there are those who believe that undocumented immigrants should be banned and deported to their native countries. However, there are those who believe that they should be given a chance to pursue the American dream. The former lot are adamant in their push to see undocumented immigrants deported or measures taken to ensure that they cannot make it to the US. A majority of them argue that the US economy is strained because of its philanthropic endeavors towards the immigrants. There are also those who appear to single out the Latin American immigrants and insinuate that they are solely responsible for the economic hardships experienced by the US. Well, is this true or false? This article seeks to debunk this notion and present evidence to discredit the opinion that undocumented immigrants from Latin America are responsible for problems in the US.
First of all, a few people know that undocumented immigrants who come from all over the world pay taxes including the ones from Latin American countries. In his 2018 article, Campbell notes that undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in taxes to the federal government. Well, many Americans who believe that undocumented immigrants should be banned and deported are oblivious to this fact. President Donald Trump has continuously said that immigration costs the US taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Well, this is true as it will be discussed later. However, very few people have been heard saying or acknowledging the fact that immigrants pay billions of taxes to the federal government. Gee, Gardner, Hill, and Wiehe (2017) appear to echo Campbell’s comments and go a step further to offer specifics by stating that undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.74 billion in taxes every year. This is quite high, but the article continues to indicate that if granted legal status and if they are allowed to work legally in the U.S., undocumented immigrants would contribute $2.18 billion more in state and local taxes. This increase would increase they are effective state and local tax rate from 8% to 8.6%. What this means is that the contribution to the economy by the undocumented immigrants would increase.
Aside from the taxes that the undocumented immigrants pay, it is also crucial to note that undocumented immigrants are not a recurrent expenditure for the federal, state, and local governments. While it is indeed true that the undocumented immigrants cost the taxpayers billions of dollars every year, this happens with the first-generation immigrants who move to the United States. These individuals expect help when they arrive in the U.S. and will thus cost the government money for their various needs. However, t...