facts and myths?

Question

MYTH
Undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes or contribute to the U.S. economy, and instead take advantage of social welfare programs.
“Controlling illegal immigration is also an issue of fairness to American taxpayers. Is it fair if people are using public services like schools and roads, but are not paying taxes?”
--Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, May 4, 2006

FACT
The myth of “lazy” immigrants cheating U.S. taxpayers and living off welfare couldn’t be farther from the truth.

According to a 2004 study by the Urban Policy Institute, virtually all undocumented men--96 percent--and 62 percent of undocumented women are in the workforce. According to a March report from the Pew Hispanic Center, of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., 7.2 million were employed in March 2005, making up approximately 4.9 percent of the labor force in the U.S.

Overall, immigrants--both documented and undocumented--are a huge boon to the U.S. economy. And as for what’s “fair,” the U.S. government takes far more from undocumented immigrants than it ever gives back.

In 2001, then-Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan testified before Congress that in the state of Illinois alone, "[undocumented] workers pay $547 million in taxes yearly, compared to $238 million in services used"--a net “profit” for Illinois of $309 million. And according to a report in last year’s New York Times, each year, undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $7 billion more than they get from Social Security and $1.5 billion more than they get from Medicare.

The Internal Revenue Service issues “Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers” (ITINs) to allow undocumented workers to pay income taxes. Since 1996, 9.2 million of these numbers have been handed out. According to the Los Angeles Times, last year, 1.2 million people paid taxes using ITINs.

Answer 1

Right on!

Answer 2

The Urban Policy Institute is an advocacy group. They are not a bona fide study association. Any so-called study that they would produce would be slanted to their views.

The fact that 1.2 million people paid taxes using Taxpayer Identification Numbers is meaningless. Many small businesses use TINs rather than personal Social Security numbers. There are currently estimated to be at least 12 million illegal aliens in the United States. Personally, I believe that number to be closer to 20 million. Even if half of the TIN holders were illegal aliens, (approximately half a million) that would still leave millions upon millions who are not paying taxes, or if they are, they have stolen some poor American citizen's identity and are trapped into paying taxes by the very nature of their crime of ID theft. Your "information" claims that 7.2 million illegals are employed. If only half a million are legally paying taxes, then the rest are screwing the goverment, or some unsuspecting American citizen. The rest as we all know, are robbing the American social services systems, and thus the American taxpayer, blind.

Those of us in the border states could give a rat's behind about a study in Illinois. Illinois is not a state which is known to be a hotspot of illegal alien activity. Those of us in California who shell out over 10.5 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR in social services have no interest in a state where illegals used a reported 238 million. Big Woo. That's bird feed compared to our 67 emergency room closures in three years, the 30% illegal alien prison population we feed, clothe, and house, or the fact that our housing costs are unreachable by most middle class standards due to the invasion from the south which has driven housing costs through the proverbial roof.

Illegal immigration is a drain on America and the scourge of her citizens, as well as being dangerous or deadly to many.

http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/
http://www.predatoryaliens.com/index.htm

Answer 3

If they are not documented how are they paying their yearly taxes to the goverment? Yes they will pay taxes at the store but so do we. What is wrong with wanting someone to be here legally? Why dose someone who comes here and does not want to be here legally have more rights than I do as an American citizen. They use our schools, our social service departments, our walefare programs, that even our own elderly can't get. I believe if you get to use all these things and others you should be a part of our great nation. I do think that anyone who truly wants to come to America for a better life and chance to make something of himself should be given the opportunity to do so, but legally. We have enough of illegal troubles of our own. If you don't want to become an American citizen then get your green card legally, and I don't mean 10 people using the same one, or stay home. America can no longer foot the bill for the worlds problems and poor. If we go to another country we are expected to go by their laws or pay the consiquences. It should be the same in the United States of America.

Answer 4

Once again, you're basing your "facts" off a left-wing media.. Futhermore, both parties are for amnesty, because it enriches their riches to begin with.

Read this: It is a news organization that fishes out the details between both parties-- and actually, the founder of the entire paper, is a Liberal...It is also a non-profit organization and is not supported by any party.

http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/2006/07/billion_dollar_anchor_babies.html

You want to know the facts? Here's the facts!! Noted by another YA member! He covered it quite well...

"The reason that the Bush Administration is pushing for amnesty has nothing to do with security or with the desire to give illegals a better life.

The only reason he's pushing for it is because the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership) between Canada, the US, and Mexico is scheduled to be completed by 2010. In order for the free flow of traffic portion to be properly implemented, all residents must have official status of some sort or other.

In addition, by granting these illegals resident status (estimates very between 10 - 30 million) it opens the door for them to legally sponsor in their brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, children etc. Once these people are sponsored in, it allows them to do the same thing. The resulting number of immigrants could easily explode to 50 million or more in the next 10 years, creating a large influx of residents and new citizens who support the SPP objectives of the Bush administration to remove our borders.

That's why our borders remain unprotected. The goal is to eliminate them. FYI, the private organization of corporations who developed the SPP plan (same group who developed NAFTA and CAFTA - which was pushed by Bush) has already made presentations to Congress on why we should be forming a North American Union. They advocate a single currency, a single passport, integrated security (which is underway right now) and a single Parliament.

Bush's amnesty plan's are designed to give everyone status before this process is fully in place. It allows for an influx of American voters who will be open to integrating with Mexico.

In the end, the sovereignty of the US will be gone and our work force will be replaced by folks who'd love to crowd into a manicured apartment complex and take engineering jobs for $30K a year. Their quality of life would be much better.

I don't mean to sound prejudiced. I love the Latino's, their culture, and their work ethic. But it's important for Americans to realize that there's a larger picture in the background than the feeble case presented by the media. If we fall for their deception, we lay the foundation for the loss of our Constitution, meaning our children will no longer have a Bill of Rights."

--Rob

Answer 5

FACT:
Illegal Immigrant Medical Bills Driving Los Angeles into Debt.

Arizona intercepts token Wire Payments to Coyotes from Illegal Aliens

Illegal Aliens Buying Homes with Fake IDs

More & More Mexican Illegal Alien cross border to give birth the U.S. Taxpayer with ‘Anchor Babies’.

Illegal Aliens Cost California $10.5 billion a Year for Education, Health Care and Incarceration

Taxpayer funded Arizona schools used to inform Illegal Aliens how to ship money to Mexico……..

Medicare spent $1.45 BILLION on medical care for illegal aliens in the United States!

Answer 6

I did a quick search, and found an article that states that illegals cost California 10.5 BILLION every year. That's over $1,100 per household.

You've "cleverly" quoted a number about Social Security, but what about all of the other programs - welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, our schools, our hospitals (because they don't have health insurance), etc.?

How can they get these numbers about criminals? Certainly these criminals are not reporting somewhere and declaring their status as such, are they? You can't get accurate numbers about crime. Do you think anyone really knows how much money the Mob makes?

If we're so unfair to illegals, then why do they come here to be abused? Why don't they all go back to Mexico where they legally belong?

Answer 7

Yeah, you forgot to mention how they then destroy any help they've given by sending their eight kids to FREE public school and demanding spanish language teachers, going to the emergency rooms and forcing American taxpayers to cover their medical bills, collecting government welfare, using government services like roads, police, and fire fighters, and committing a HUGE amount of crimes (a decent portion of our prison population is ILLEGAL -- 20% in California alone).

Your "myths" and "facts" may be "real" but they are completely BOGUS. You've chosen only the info you WANT and left out all the negatives.

You're so proud? Go back and help your country become a decent, civilized place so that its citizens actually want to live there. Otherwise, you're all talk.

Answer 8

Who cares? Also, it's impossible to be a mexican-american. You're either a mexican citizen, or an american citizen, it has nothing to do with your ethnicity. Look on the map. See where Mexico adjoins the United States? Now, find the US/Mexico border. Which side of it are you on? The answer to that tells you which country you're currently residing in. Whether or not you're doing it legally is between you and the US Customs and Immigration office.

Write your congressman today, tell him you support border enforcement, the border fence, employer enforcment, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

Answer 9

PROUD MEXICAN - If your that proud, go back and put all this energy you and your people apply in breaking the laws into your own country and make it better, Demand better wages, Demand better working conditions. DO what AMERICANs did back in the 1860s. Stand up for yourselves. MAD JACK is right on. You don't want to move back because you are babied in this country. I don't feel sorry for your ***.

As for Cantu and his comment about blacks and whites on welfare. There are more 'white' on welfare than blacks because simply, there are more whites in this country. The percentage of 'Blacks' on welfare is much higher than whites. Hopefully you are smart enough to differetiate between the two stats.

Back to Mr. I'm so proud. Learn that most reports in the country, espically ones dealing with the one you are talking about are ALWAYS one-sided to make someone or something look bad. It's usually a report making white people look bad because someone like you feels they are being severaly mistreated because you are here illagally and don't want to follow the laws of the land. You think you are better then the laws and want everything handed to you. Grow up and move back to Mexico where you and the rest of them belong.

Answer 10

Yeah, THAT explains it!!!!! A "study" done by the Pew Hispanic center,umm hmm!!!
FACT; even if some do pay taxes (which most DON'T) They use STOLEN and FAKE i.d.'s to work) Anything they might pay in taxes is NOTHING compared to what they TAKE in social services,welfare,etc. AND with earned income tax credit, they actually get back MORE than anything they paid in taxes!!!!

FACT: even the UNCLAIMED taxes paid in by some illegals, does NOT offset the COST of illegals!!!!

Why don't you do some UNBIASED research!!!!

Answer 11

Myth - Illegal immigrants are cheap labor

CHEAP LABOR
Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?
Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage
Consumers don't want expensive produce
Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs
But the bottom line is cheap labor
The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie there is no such thing as "cheap labor."
Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children.
He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour.
At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.
He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent
He qualifies for food stamps
He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care
His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school
He requires bilingual teachers and books
He qualifies for relief from high energy bills
If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare.
All of this is at that taxpayer's expense.
He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.
Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.
He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.
Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour Left after paying their bills and his.
The American taxpayer's also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.
Cheap labor?
YEAH RIGHT!
Wake up people!