New Mexico Voices for Children: Immigrants and the New Mexico Economy: Working Hard for Low Wages
ITEP Work in ActionThe current debate over immigration – and particularly over immigrants without legal residency status – often centers on whether or not this group of people contributes to the economy or diminishes it. A 2006 Fiscal Policy Project report, “Undocumented Immigrants in New Mexico: State Tax Contributions and Fiscal Concerns,” concluded that undocumented immigrants contribute more in state and local sales, income and property taxes than the state spends to educate their children.1
“Immigrants and the New Mexico Economy: Working Hard for Low Wages” looks at the earnings of all immigrants and how they help shape the landscape of the labor sector and, by extension, the New Mexico economy. This report also takes a look at the impact immigrants have on our national health care and Social Security systems.
Read the Full Report (PDF)