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Myths vs. Facts: Commonly used attacks against immigrants Information provided by:
FACT: Immigrants pay taxes, in the form of income, property, sales,
and taxes at the federal and state level. As far as income tax
payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies
find that immigrants pay between $90 and $140 billion a year in
federal, state, and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay income
taxes as well, as evidenced by the Social Security Administrations
suspense file (taxes that cannot be matched to workers names and
social security numbers), which grew by $20 billion between 1990 and
1998.
(Source:
FACT: Immigrants come to work and reunite with family members.
Immigrant labor force participation is consistently higher than
native born, and immigrant workers make up a larger share of the U.S.
labor force (12.4%) than they do the U.S. population (11.5%).
Moreover, the ratio between immigrant use of public benefits and the
amount of taxes they pay is consistently favorable to the U.S. In one
estimate, immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, pay about $90
billion a year in taxes, and use about $5 billion in public benefits.
In another cut of the data, immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30
billion more than the amount of government services they use.
(Source: Questioning Immigration Policy Can We Afford to Open Our
Arms?, Friends Committee on National Legislation Document ..G 606 DOM,
January 25, 1996. http:
Myth: IMMIGRANTS SEND ALL THEIR MONEY BACK HOME
FACT: In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households,
immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue
to U.S. federal, state, and local governments. While it is true that
immigrants remit billions of dollars a year to their home countries,
this is one of the most targeted and effective forms of direct foreign
investment.
(Source:
Myth: IMMIGRANTS TAKE JOBS AWAY FROM AMERICANS...
FACT: The largest wave of immigration to the U.S. since the early
1900s coincided with our lowest national unemployment rate and fastest
economic growth. Immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs for U.S. and
foreign workers, and foreign born students allow many U.S. graduate
programs to keep their doors open. While there has been no
comprehensive study done of immigrant owned businesses, we have
countless examples: in Silicon Valley, companies begun by Chinese and
Indian immigrants generated more than $19.5 billion in sales and
nearly 73,000 jobs in 2000.
(Source: Richard Vedder, Lowell Gallaway, and Stephen Moore,
Immigration and Unemployment: New Evidence, Alexis de Tocqueville
Institution, Arlington, VA (Mar. 1994), p. 13.
Myth: IMMIGRANTS ARE A DRAIN ON THE ECONOMY
FACT: During the 1990s, half of all new workers were foreign born,
filling gaps left by native born workers in both the high and
low skill ends of the spectrum. Immigrants fill jobs in key sectors,
start their own businesses, and contribute to a thriving economy. The
net benefit of immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion annually.
As Alan Greenspan points out, 70% of immigrants arrive in prime
working age. That means we havent spent a penny on their education,
yet they are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500
billion toward our social security system over the next 20 years
(Source: Andrew Sum, Mykhaylo Trubskyy, Ishwar Khatiwada, et al.,
Immigrant Workers in the New England Labor Market: Implications for
Workforce Development Policy, Center for Labor Market Studies,
Northeastern University, Boston, Prepared for the New England Regional
Office, the Employment and Training Administration, and the U.S.
Department of Labor, Boston, Massachusetts, October 2002.
Myth: IMMIGRANTS DONT WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH OR BECOME AMERICANS
FACT: Within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak
English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level
far exceeds supply. Greater than 33% of immigrants are naturalized
citizens; given increased immigration in the 1990s, this figure will
rise as more legal permanent residents become eligible for
naturalization in the coming years. The number of immigrants
naturalizing spiked sharply after two events: enactment of immigration
and welfare reform laws in 1996, and the terrorist attacks in 2001.
(Source: American Immigration Lawyers Association, Myths & Facts in
the Immigration Debate, 8/14/03.
)
(Source: Simon Romero and Janet Elder, Hispanics in the US Report
Optimism New York Times, (Aug. 6, 2003).
Myth: TODAY'S IMMIGRANTS ARE DIFFERENT THAN THOSE 100 YEARS AGO
FACT: The percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign born now
stands at 11.5%; in the early 20th century it was approximately 15%.
Similar to accusations about todays immigrants, those of 100 years ago
initially often settled in mono ethnic neighborhoods, spoke their
native languages, and built up newspapers and businesses that catered
to their fellow migrs. They also experienced the same types of
discrimination that todays immigrants face, and integrated within
American culture at a similar rate. If we view history objectively, we
remember that every new wave of immigrants has been met with suspicion
and doubt and yet, ultimately, every past wave of immigrants has been
vindicated and saluted.
(Source: Census Data:
rod/2002pubs/censr 4.pdf
Myth: MOST IMMIGRANTS CROSS THE BORDER ILLEGALLY
FACT: Around 75% of todays immigrants have legal permanent
(immigrant) visas; of the 25% that are undocumented, 40% overstayed
temporary (non immigrant) visas. Undocumented immigrants estimated to
be less than 2% of the US population.
(Source: Department of Homeland Security
(
FACT: From 1986 to 1998, the Border Patrols budget increased six fold
and the number of agents stationed on our southwest border doubled to
8,500. The Border Patrol also toughened its enforcement strategy,
heavily fortifying typical urban entry points and pushing migrants
into dangerous desert areas, in hopes of deterring crossings. Instead,
the undocumented immigrant population doubled in that timeframe, to 8
milliondespite the legalization of nearly 3 million immigrants after
the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986.
Insufficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the U.S., compared
with the number of jobs in need of workers, has significantly
contributed to this current conundrum.
(Source: Immigration and Naturalization website:
Myth: THE WAR ON TERRORISM CAN BE WON WITH IMMIGRANT RESTRICTIONS
FACT: No security expert since September 11th, 2001 has said that
restrictive immigration measures would have prevented the terrorist
attacksinstead, the key is effective use of good intelligence. Most of
the 9/11 hijackers were here on legal visas. Since 9/11, the myriad of
measures targeting immigrants in the name of national security have
netted no terrorism prosecutions. In fact, several of these measures
could have the opposite effect and actually make us less safe, as
targeted communities of immigrants are afraid to come forward with
information.
(Source: Associated Press/Dow Jones Newswires, US Senate Subcommittee
Hears Immigration Testimony, Oct. 17, 2001.)
(Source: Cato Institute: Dont Blame Immigrants for Terrorism, Daniel
Griswold, Assoc. Director of Cato Institutes Center for Trade Policy
Studies (see:
Information provided by:
MartÃn Arteaga
Project Coordinator
South Campus Development
Office for Access and Equity
University of Illinois at Chicago
809 S. Marshfield # 717
Chicago, IL 60612
312 413 3475 office
312 413 0055 fax
marteaga@uic.edu
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