The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that undocumented immigrants paid about $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010. And, they also help fund public schools and local government services by paying sales and property taxes like any other resident.
Do some undocumented immigrants still work for cash? Sure. Guess who else does that all over the country? American citizens. And, many of those immigrants who do work for cash still file their taxes, using an Individual Tax ID Number (ITIN), in the hopes that a paper trail will help them eventually gain permanent residency. “In 2010, about 3 million people paid over $870 million in income taxes using an ITIN, and according to the IRS, ITIN filers pay $9 billion in payroll taxes annually,” The Atlantic reports.
But yes, by all means, please keep perpetuating the false stereotype that immigrants take advantage of the system and aren’t trying to become citizens “the right way.”
Myth #3: Immigrants are violent criminals and terrorists.
This misconception is particularly heart-wrenching, as so many immigrants are refugees or asylum-seekers who are fleeing violence and terrorism—just as you or I would do for our own families. They are moms and dads like you and me, trying to find work, reunite with families, and raise their kids in a safe environment. The truth is, immigrants are statistically less likely to commit serious crimes or be incarcerated than native-born people are. And high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. For instance, according to Teaching Tolerance, “‘sanctuary counties’ average 35.5 fewer crimes per 10,000 people compared to non-sanctuary counties.”
And if you’re worried that refugees are bringing terrorism into our country, again, this is false. Refugees endure a very rigorous screening process that includes “multiple background checks; fingerprint tests; interviews; health screenings; and applications with multiple intelligence, law enforcement and security agencies,” Teaching Tolerance reports. And it’s not a quick process. The average length of time it takes for the United Nations and the United States government to approve refugee status is 18 – 24 months.
Still worried that immigrants increase the likelihood of terrorism? Well, you should be more worried about your regular old American citizen neighbors, because, according to Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute, “[Between 1975 and 2015], the annual chance of being murdered by somebody other than a foreign-born terrorist was 252.9 times greater than the chance of dying in a terrorist attack committed by a foreign-born terrorist.”
America does have a problem with violence, but it’s not refugees from war-torn nations who are doing it.
Myth #4: Immigrants don’t try to learn English.
First of all, the United States doesn’t have a national language—never has. So no immigrant is legally obligated to learn English. But do most of them try as fucking hell to do so they’ll have a better chance at getting a job and providing for their families and most of all, be able to complete their applications and be granted citizenship so they can’t be deported? Of course they do. Just because you hear someone speaking another language to a family member at Target doesn’t mean they don’t know English or aren’t trying to learn English. If you travel to France, are you naturally going to speak French the minute you step foot on the ground? No, you’re going to try to get by with as much English as possible until you learn some French. (And good luck with that if you do try. Learning another language as an adult is no small feat.)
Also, immigrants have always held on to their cultures fiercely, even after moving to the U.S. Generations ago, Italian immigrants still spoke Italian at home, as did Germans, Swedish, etc. Were they chastised for it back then too? Yep. Does that make it right? Nope.
And guess what else? It’s actually incredibly beneficial for children to grow up in bilingual households. So if your neighbor from India speaks Hindi at home or even out in public, it might be to maintain a sense of pride in their culture. It also might be to ensure their children know more than one language, which is seen as an asset in nations all over the world—nations that are passing the U.S. by in education, FYI.
Myth #5: Immigrants take jobs away from U.S. citizens.
Also, false. The American Immigration Council, a nonpartisan group, reports that there is “little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers. Two trends—better education and an aging population—have resulted in a decrease in the number of workers born in the United States who are willing or available to take low-paying jobs.”
So yes, there’s a shortage of American workers that immigrants may be willing to fill, but are they to blame when employers will so willingly hire them to do the job? Who is really at fault when dishonest employers “exploit this labor source, paying immigrants less, refuse to provide benefits and ignore worker-safety laws”? Especially when the people who reap the benefits the most from the labor immigrants provide are you and me, since we can get our food and other goods at cheaper prices as a result?
So who’s the real “bad guy” here? The hard-working labor worker who works the fields in 100-degree heat all day so he can feed his family, pays taxes, and is trying like hell to do everything right so he doesn’t get deported and never see his family again? No.
Is there a need for immigration reform in the U.S.? Yes—most would agree to that. But locking up children in cages or insulting someone in public for speaking another language or accusing them of stealing U.S. jobs and taking advantage of government assistance—these are not ways to do it. These ignorant mindsets about U.S. immigrants need to go because they’re racist, discriminatory, and frankly, not based on actual facts.