In Most States, Undocumented Immigrants Pay Higher Tax Rates Than Top 1%

Undocumented immigrants contributed $96.7 billion in taxes in the United States in 2022 and paid higher state and local tax rates than the top 1% of households in the vast majority of states, a study published Tuesday revealed.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) study found that undocumented immigrants paid $59.4 billion in federal taxes and contributed an additional $37.4 billion to state and local tax coffers in 2022. Per capita, they paid $8,889 in total taxes.

The study's authors found that if all currently undocumented immigrants were allowed to to work legally in the United States, their total tax contribution would soar by $40.2 billion per year to $136.9 billion.

"Most of the tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants are collected through levies applied to their incomes," the report states. "This includes broad income taxes as well as narrower payroll taxes levied on workers' earnings that are dedicated to specific programs. It is well established that undocumented workers contribute to the solvency of major social insurance programs through their tax contributions."

"In many respects, undocumented immigrants face a harsher tax code than legal residents," the publication continues. "They often pay taxes that are dedicated to funding programs from which they are barred from participating because of their immigration status. In addition, undocumented immigrants and the citizen members of their families are ineligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit."

The study found that more than one-third of the taxes paid by undocumented immigrants fund government programs and services they are prohibited from using. In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, they paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes.

Furthermore, the state and local tax rates paid by undocumented immigrants exceeded those of the 1% of highest-income households in 40 of 50 states.

"This means hundreds of thousands of everyday people are contributing more than their share to public services they cannot even access meanwhile those with the most to give and the most to benefit contribute the least," Alexis Tsoukalas, senior policy analyst at the non-profit Florida Policy Institute, told Louisiana Illuminator.

Earlier this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office highlighted the economic benefits of immigrant workers—both authorized and undocumented—in a report projecting they'll add $7 trillion to the nation's gross domestic product by 2034.