Five Thirty Eight: Everything* Donald Trump’s Immigration Plan Gets Wrong

But there’s another side to the equation: taxes. Many undocumented immigrants work off the books and don’t pay taxes on their earnings. But many others do pay taxes. One recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that undocumented workers paid nearly $12 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. They pay billions more in federal income taxes and, critically, in Social Security and Medicare taxes, despite being ineligible for those benefits. A 2013 report from the Social Security Administration estimated that unauthorized immigrants in 2010 paid $12 billion more into the Social Security system than they got out.

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