Did undocumented immigrants pay $97 million in taxes last year?

1. What the $97 billion number actually means and where it comes from

The headline figure commonly cited — “nearly $97 billion” — originates from a July 2024 ITEP analysis that combined tax incidence methods with administrative data on taxpayers using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and other indicators to estimate federal, state and local taxes paid by roughly 10.9 million undocumented residents in 2022, arriving at $96.7 billion ^{[1] [2]}. Reuters’ fact check summarized and confirmed that characterization, noting ITEP’s calculation and that the $97 billion covers multiple tax types including income and payroll taxes as well as state and local levies ^[3].

2. Million vs. billion: a crucial decimal—and how the error spreads

Confusion between “million” and “billion” is often a matter of sloppy repetition, political framing or misreading source material; the authoritative ITEP report and corroborating coverage consistently use the billion-scale number, not million ^{[1] [2]}. Multiple advocacy organizations and independent outlets echo the near-$97 billion estimate, and ITEP’s methodology — which relies on population estimates, earnings profiles, and observed tax filings — makes the figure plausible within its assumptions ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Why estimates differ across reports and years

Different organizations produce different totals because they use different base years, population counts, definitions of “undocumented,” and tax components. The American Immigration Council reported $89.8 billion in total taxes for 2023 households led by undocumented immigrants, a lower figure than ITEP’s 2022 estimate but consistent in scale ^[4]. ITEP also models counterfactuals: granting work authorization to all undocumented immigrants, for instance, would raise estimated tax contributions by about $40.2 billion to roughly $136.9 billion, underscoring how legal status and wages affect revenue estimates ^[1].

4. What’s included — and what isn’t — in the tax totals

ITEP’s $96.7 billion covers federal income and payroll taxes as well as state and local taxes; it does not imply undocumented immigrants receive the same benefits from those taxes — for example, many contribute to Social Security or Medicare via payroll taxes but are ineligible for the corresponding benefits, and ITIN filers cannot access some tax credits available to citizens ^{[1] [6] [7]}. Reports note significant state-level variation — California alone accounted for roughly $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in one study — and that a sizable share of undocumented households do file returns using ITINs ^{[8] [2] [9]}.

5. Limitations, agendas and the bottom line

All estimates rely on models and imperfect data: population counts of undocumented residents are themselves estimates, ITIN usage undercounts some filers, and fear of enforcement can suppress filings in a given year ^{[1] [9]}. Advocacy groups use these numbers to argue for legalization or inclusion, which would raise projected receipts ^{[1] [8]}, while political opponents sometimes downplay contributions or conflate figures to argue for stricter enforcement; neutral fact-checkers like Reuters and organizations such as the Tax Policy Center emphasize that undocumented immigrants do pay substantial taxes but also face exclusions from benefits ^{[3] [6]}. The accurate, evidence-based answer: the commonly cited figure is about $97 billion (not $97 million) in taxes paid in 2022 per ITEP, with comparable estimates in the same ballpark from other analysts and clear caveats about methodology and year-to-year variation ^{[1] [4] [3]}.