Fact check: Do immigrants pay taxes

1. Summary of the results

The evidence overwhelmingly shows that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, make substantial tax contributions to the U.S. economy. In 2023, immigrants collectively paid $651.9 billion in federal, state, and local taxes ^[1]. Specifically for undocumented immigrants:

• They paid $96.7 billion in U.S. taxes in 2022 ^[2]
• This breaks down to $59.4 billion to federal government and $37.3 billion to state/local governments ^[2]
• The average contribution is approximately $8,889 per undocumented immigrant ^[2]
• Their contributions represent 26.1% of their incomes ^[2]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual points emerge from the analyses:

• Immigrants often contribute more than they receive: The average immigrant makes a fiscal contribution of about $16,200 when including both personal and employer taxes ^[3]
• Undocumented immigrants specifically contribute to Social Security without being able to benefit from it: They provided a net positive contribution of $12 billion to the Social Security system as of 2010 ^[4]
• Many undocumented immigrants use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to pay taxes while having limited access to the benefits they fund ^[1]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question "do immigrants pay taxes" is oversimplified and potentially misleading because:

• It fails to acknowledge the scale of immigrant tax contributions: representing 2.6% of federal revenue from undocumented immigrants alone ^[1]
• It doesn't distinguish between different types of taxes (federal, state, local, Social Security, etc.)
• The question might stem from anti-immigration rhetoric that benefits certain political groups by portraying immigrants as non-contributing members of society, when the data shows otherwise
• The question ignores the fact that many immigrants pay into systems they cannot benefit from, which actually benefits current U.S. citizens and taxpayers through programs like Social Security