Undocumented immigrants compose about three percent of the total US population. (Josiah Heyman of the University of Texas at El Paso)
The estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the Social Security system with a subsidy of about $7 billion a year. (The New York Times)
Immigrants contribute billions of dollars annually but receive no public pension in retirement, are not eligible for Medicare, and are not entitled to any other benefits. (Social Security Administration)
Most undocumented workers pay taxes, and they pay a variety of taxes. (The New York Times)
The money that undocumented immigrants paid in 2004 added up to about 10 percent of that year's surplus - the difference between what the system currently receives in payroll taxes and what it pays in pension benefits. (Social Security Administration)
The money paid by illegal workers and their employers is factored into all the Social Security Administration's projections. (Social Security Administration)
After the 1986 passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the Social Security Administration began receiving mountains of W-2 earnings reports with incorrect or fake Social Security numbers, and placed them in the "earnings suspense file." Since then, the file has grown, on average, by more than $50 billion a year, generating $6 billion to $7 billion in Social Security tax revenue and about $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes. (Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago)
Many older workers return home to Latin America when they reach retirement age. (BusinessWeek)
Looks like a lot of cherry picked facts given to provide a certain slant.
7 million providing 7 billion to social security? Again, why would any employer hire an illegal and pay them "legally"? If you're going to go through the expense of doing deductions, matching social security, paying worker's comp, conforming to OSHA, and who knows how many other expenses, why would you also expose yourself to legal prosecution? Where's the motivation? How are these people "documenting" the "undocumented"? This is the lowest estimate I've heard, between 7 million and 40 million, with most landing around 12-15 million.
As far as the New York Times bit. "Most undocumented workers pay taxes, and they pay a variety of taxes." Well, hell yeah, an illegal is going to pay sales tax whenever they buy something because they don't have a choice (the same way they SHOULD be paying income tax and social security at the register). I would say that number is more like "all" instead of "most." Money's no good if you can't spend it. They're a net tax LOSS because a legal American would have also paid income tax on the money before they ever paid sales tax. Saying they pay taxes doesn't make up for the fact that they pay fewer taxes than a legal. This is no different than cutting the rate of growth of programs (when it's still growing) and hearing people scream about cuts, as if it's a net cut.
How in the world can anyone say that most illegals pay income tax? Again, how would you even start to conduct that poll? As far as the word "many" on that last statement, how many are "many"? I'm always suspicious when when I hear media using variable terms in the place of numbers. Sounds like a term that "felt good" to someone. Many?
You want to see protests in the streets? Collect income tax and social security at the cash register on the outgo instead of on the income. THEN you'll hear millions of people raising hell about paying into a system they can't collect out of. If they're arrogant enough to come here and step on our flag?
And, who thinks a guest worker program is all of a sudden going to cause minimum wage laws to be enforced? The only ones I hear of being deported as it is are the ones caught breaking laws other than for being here. Nobody's going around and rounding up illegals doing nothing other than working here.
A friend of mine from Jersey says the going rate for a day's labor out of one from a Home Depot is $100. Try hiring a legal American in the same part of the country and getting away with $100 a day after you pay all the above mentioned expenses. You'll not even come close.