Immigration

Yes. Many immigrants are entrepreneurs who create jobs. According to a study of the bipartisan immigration bill passed in the Senate in 2014, provisions in the bill could potentially bring between 336,000 and 470,000 undocumented immigrant entrepreneurs into the formal economy. Given that the average immigrant-owned business hires 11 employees, these businesses would account for between 3.7 million and 5.2 million jobs in the formal economy.

• Immigrants Aren’t Taking Americans’ Jobs, New Study Finds
• Immigration Helps American Workers’ Wages and Job Opportunities

Yes. Undocumented immigrants pay an average of $11.64 billion in state and local taxes a year. On average, an undocumented individual has about 8% of their income go to taxes. Moreover, all immigrants—regardless of status—will contribute approximately $80,000 more in taxes than government services used over their lifetime.

• Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions

Over the years, immigrants have contributed up to $300 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund. In 2010 alone, undocumented individuals paid $13 billion into retirement accounts and only received $1 billion in return. Without the contributions of immigrants going into the system, it is estimated that full benefits would not be able to be paid out beyond the year 2037.

• The Truth About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes
• 5 Immigration Myths Debunked

In 2014, there were 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States. This number has remained unchanged from 2009, and represents a decline from 12.2 million undocumented individuals who resided in the United States in 2007.

• 5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in the U.S.

DACA recipients or DREAMers—people who came to the United States at a young age and applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—paid a $465 fee with their applications, meaning that the program has not cost taxpayers a single cent. Since the program began in 2012, more than 750,000 individuals have had their applications for DACA approved—and the U.S. economy has benefitted. The cost of ending the DACA program would eliminate at least $433.4 billion from the GDP over the course of a decade.

• Maintaining DACA keeps the American Dream alive
• The High Cost of Ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bipartisan immigration bill that passed in the Senate in 2014 would have helped reduce the deficit by $197 billion, increased investment by 2%, and increased overall employment by 3.5% by the year 2023.

• The Economic Benefits of Immigration

Studies have confirmed that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans and they are associated with lower crime rates. Additionally, in counties that have put in place policies to limit cooperation with immigration enforcement and to uphold the Fourth Amendment, there are lower crime rates than in counties without “sanctuary policies.”

• The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States
• The Effects of Sanctuary Policies on Crime and the Economy