Editor's note: A version of this story first published in 2019.
CNN
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This is a surprising fact that is often overlooked in the immigration debate.
Experts estimate that illegal immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal taxes each year, between filing tax returns and taxes withheld from paychecks.
Here's a look at why—and how—this happens.
National Immigration Law Center breaks down a number of reasons why do illegal immigrants pay taxes?including:
• This shows that they comply with federal tax laws.
• This may help them demonstrate “good moral character” if they are later able to regularize their immigration status.
• Tax return records can be used to document employment history and presence in the United States. These steps could help them qualify for legal immigration status in the future if lawmakers pass immigration reform.
Critics of illegal immigration have long argued that undocumented immigrants who pay taxes can do so because they are using stolen Social Security numbers. But millions of dollars in federal taxes are paid every year by people who have no Social Security numbers at all.
Instead, they submit documents using what is called Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, notes that “most experts believe that the vast majority of tax returns filed today using ITINs are filed by undocumented immigrants.”
Some non-citizens who legally immigrated to the United States also pay taxes using this method.
In 2019 according to the tax serviceMore than 2.5 million tax returns were filed using ITINs, representing approximately $6 billion in taxes.
In addition to filing tax returns, officials estimate that undocumented immigrants also contribute billions to Social Security each year through payroll tax deductions. In 2010, for example, According to Social Security Administration estimates that payments from unauthorized workers accounted for about $12 billion in Social Security tax revenue.
In recent years, posts by immigrant rights advocates on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok during tax season have drawn attention to the issue.
“Illegal immigrants pay billions in taxes to fund programs they don’t have access to,” National Immigration Law Center. wrote in a series of recent social media posts.
In 2017, Belen Sisa's post about her experience paying taxes went viral.
“You want to tell me again how I should be deported, contribute nothing and only siphon out of this country while the richest 1% of people in this country steal from you every day?” wrote Sisa, who was a college student in Arizona at the time.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiary later told CNN she felt it was important to speak out.
“I wanted to show people that we are here, that we come from all over the world and that we contribute more than people think,” she said.
Jose Antonio VargasThe Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist-turned-activist who turned his struggles as an illegal immigrant into an advocacy platform took time off from finalizing his 2019 taxes to share his experiences on Twitter.
“Yes,” he wrote, “undocumented immigrants help fund the very systems that detain and deport us.”
