Home

Immigration Myth and Fact #2

Do illegal immigrants contribute more to the economy than the cost attributable to them associated with public education and health care for their families?

Fact: Undocumented workers contribute to the US economy.

  • Undocumented workers comprise 5% of the American workforce, but are concentrated in low-skilled jobs such as farming, food production, construction and domestic workers and maintenance. (The Perryman Report, p. 27 ff)

  • Undocumented workers are responsible for $651,511,000,000 in annual economic output and $1.757 trillion in annual spending. (The Perryman Report, p. 6)

 

Fact: Native-born Americans are not entering the workforce in unskilled jobs, and thus America’s workforce needs must be met from another population.

  • “In 1960, about 50% of men in this country joined the low-skilled labor force without completing high school; the number is now less than 10%.” (“Late, Great Immigration Debate,” Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2007, as cited by The Perryman Report, p. 31.)

 

Fact: Undocumented immigrants are employed at a high level – 94% for men and 54% for women.

  • Most undocumented men come to America specifically to fill known job opportunities, and their numbers tend to fluctuate according to demand for their services. (The Perryman Report, p. 28-29).

  • Undocumented women either care for minor children and families or work in the underground economy and thus are not captured in this figure.

 

Fact: Undocumented immigrants are in stable households, with 73% of children who live with at least one undocumented adult are American citizens. (Jeffrey A. Passel and D’Vera Cohn, “A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States”, Pew Hispanic Center, April 14, 2009, p. ii.)

  • Most unauthorized immigrant adults reside with immediate family members—spouses or children. About half of undocumented adults live with their own children under 18. (Passel and Cohn, p. ii)
  • Nearly half of unauthorized immigrant households (47%) consist of a couple with children. That is a greater share than for households of U.S.-born residents (21%) or legal immigrants (35%). (Passel and Cohn, p. ii.)

 

Fact: Undocumented workers pay taxes, thus supporting public social services such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Aid to Dependent Children, and public schools.

  • Between 50% and 75% of undocumented immigrants pay federal, state and local taxes. (“The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budget of State and Local Governments,” Congressional Budget Office, December 2007, p. 6, as cited by the Perryman Report, p. 35.)

  • The Social Security Administration receives over $7 billion a year in taxes from undocumented workers, who cannot claim those benefits due to their non-citizen status. According to the report, the taxes paid by other-than-legal immigrants will close 15 percent of the system’s projected long-term deficit. (NYT, quoting the Social Security Administration’s Annual Report to Congress, April 2, 2008)

 

Fact: Unauthorized immigrants are not entitled to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, even though a large percentage of them pay into that system.

  • Even legal permanent residents must wait five years to be eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. After that waiting period, they must meet other eligibility requirements in order to qualify for these public programs. At the same time, they pay taxes to support these two programs. (“Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility for Immigrants”, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2006.)

  • Undocumented immigrants, temporary workers and those on student visas are ineligible for Medicaid and SCHIP. (“Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility for Immigrants”, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2006.)

  • Unauthorized immigrants are much less likely to be ages 65 and older (1.2%) than are U.S.-born residents (12%) or legal immigrants (16%). (Passel and Cohn, p. 4.)

 

Fact: Enforcement-only policies only drive unauthorized workers into the underground economy, thus depriving local, state and federal governments of their tax revenues. (The Perryman Report, p. 35-36).

  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that lost tax revenue due to undocumented workers turning to the underground economy runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars. ( De Siva, Dr. Lalith, Adiran W. Millett, Dominic M. Rotondi, and William F. Sullivan, “Independent Contractors: Prevalence and Implications for Unemployment Insurance Programs,” Feb. 2000, as cited in The Perryman Report, p. 36)

  • “…the present policy environment contributes to an underground economy in which many undocumented workers are treated as ‘independent contractors’ and, thus, avoid paying substantial taxes.” (The Perryman Report, p. 36)

 

Fact: Undocumented immigrants are not the majority burden on our health care system.

  • American citizens make up 78% of the total uninsured population in America, while a combination of legal and undocumented immigrants make up 22%. (“Sharing the Costs, Sharing the Benefits: Inclusion is the Best Medicine”, Immigration Policy Center, July 22, 2009, quoting the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.)

  • The most important determinant in health care coverage is not immigration status or citizenship, but whether an employer offers health insurance benefits. Less than 40% of non-citizens have employer coverage, compared to nearly two-thirds of native citizens. (“The Role of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage for Immigrants: A Primer”, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Kaiser Family Foundation, June 2006.)

  • “Low-income workers, regardless of their citizenship status, are less likely to have an offer of coverage from their employer.” Only 55% of workers below the poverty level (annual income of $18,310 for a family of 3 and $22,050 for a family of four, according to the federal HHS guidelines) are offered health insurance compared to over 90% of workers making four times the poverty level ($73,240 for a family of three and $88,200 for a family of four). (“The Role of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage for Immigrants: A Primer”, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Kaiser Family Foundation, June 2006.)
  • Immigrants are less likely to visit the hospital emergency room compared to U.S.-born residents, and recent immigrants are less likely to use health care of any type, such as physician services. (Peter Cunningham and Samantha Artiga, “How Does Health Coverage and Access to Care for Immigrants Vary by Length of time in the U.S.” Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Kaiser Family Foundation. June 2009. p. 13.)

 

Fact: Only 4% of school-aged children are comprised of undocumented immigrants. (“The impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments”, Congressional Budget Office, December 2007, p. 6, as quoted in The Perryman Report, p. 25.)

  • Undocumented immigrants pay taxes to support the education of their children in the form of sales and property taxes (the latter being part of rent payments).