Myth 5 - Immigrants are a Drain on the Economy

1. The myth
1. Immigrants do not consume more federal services than they pay in taxes.
2. Immigrants, being prime working age and ineligible for many public services, tend to contribute more than they use.
3. The services that they do tap into are local ones (schools, transporation, ER).
4. Undocumented immigrants are less likely to use services for fear they will be found and deported.

2. Food Stamps
1. The only public service that immigrants use at higher rates than natives is food stamps, not for them (they are not eligible), but for their U.S. born children, who are citizens.

3. Successive Generations
1. One study shows that undocumented workers pay 75-80% of the state and local services they use in state and local taxes. The primary reason they don't cover all is because their very low wages results in low income tax withholding.
2. Each generation of legal immigrant pays more taxes so that by the second generation, the immigrant is paying more in taxes than they are using. Within 15 years, they have not only paid their own services, but paid for all that new immigrants use.
3. If an immigrant worker works their prime years in the U.S., then returns back to their home country, as is their usual goal, then the home country bears the real burden of their care as they age…the U.S. got all the benefit of their labor with very little of the burden of care in the later years.

4. Discrimination
1. Because of their status, undocumented worker wages remain low no matter how long they stay, whereas documented immigrants have been able to improve their income each year they remain. These low wages guarantee a continued secondary market of cheap labor for businesses.