Profits and Prophets by Nancy Ruth Fox

Author:Nancy Ruth Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030405564
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Government Revenues and Expenditures

Most economists agree that in the short run, there is a cost to immigration in terms of education, medical, and other social services, but that in the long run, there is a net positive fiscal impact. One study found that “the total annual fiscal impact of first-generation adults and their dependents, averaged across 2011–13, is a cost of $57.4 billion, while second and third-plus generation adults create a benefit of $30.5 billion and $223.8 billion, respectively” (Edsall).

With some exceptions, documented immigrants must wait for five years to be eligible for SNAP benefits.13 “Qualified” immigrants are eligible for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Medicaid, and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) only after they have been in the country for five years (Broder et al.).14

One of the largest costs of immigration to the government is public education.15 In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Plyler v. Doe . In that decision, they held that all children have a constitutional right to a free public education, regardless of immigration status.16 This decision applies to both documented and undocumented children. Even the dissent acknowledged that it “is senseless for an enlightened society to deprive any children—including [unauthorized immigrants]—of an elementary education,” in part because “the long-range costs of excluding any children from the public schools may well outweigh the costs of educating them” (Konings).

Funding for public education, kindergarten to twelfth grade, typically comes primarily from local property taxes. This ruling explains, in part, why the data show that immigrants have a positive effect on the federal budget but a negative effect on state and local budgets.17 The children of immigrants pay more in taxes than their parents or natives,18 which raises the question of the wisdom of basing immigration policy on immediate or short-term effects.

Working immigrants, even illegal ones, do pay taxes. Even though undocumented immigrants do not have Social Security Numbers, they are able to file tax returns with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). In 2015, 4.35 million tax returns were filed using ITINs, accounting for more than $13.6 billion in taxes.19 Some believe that most of these returns are from undocumented immigrants (Shoichet).

Referring to a 2007 report by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Chairman Edward P. Lazear concluded, “Our review of economic research finds immigrants not only help fuel the Nation’s economic growth, but also have an overall positive effect on the income of native-born workers.” More recent studies confirm that conclusion.

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