The U.S. Congress and Trump have ignored the plight of the U.S. undocumented taxpayer in the country during the Coronavirus pandemic 2020 by not making them part of receiving any of the $2T federal stimulus aid that was passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
March 28, 2020
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. undocumented taxpayer (nearly 8M, about 57% of immigrants in the U.S.) and their families were not included by the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump to receive any federal emergency stimulus aid from the Coronavirus Emergency Spending Bill that was just passed and signed into law by Trump to help U.S. citizens and legal status immigrants during the pandemic economic crisis, which millions of workers became unemployed (more than 3,283,000 unemployment claims were filed during the week ending March 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor reported), when businesses, corporations and etc. shut down during the 'Stay at Home' order and lock down enacted by state governors, County and municipal officials throughout the country and U.S. territories including Puerto Rico to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Most U.S. undocumented taxpayers with an ITIN, a taxing IRS number, which is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number used as a tax processing number that was issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for those that don't have a Social Security number) have become unemployed and their families are enduring economic plight to survive as most Americans in the U.S., including those undocumented taxpayers that don't have an ITIN number, but do pay federal and state taxes and don't file for tax refunds at the end of the year.
Unfortunately, Congress and Trump didn't take into account that U.S. undocumented taxpayers are the backbone of the economic fabric of the U.S. economy.
Also, most state governors and state legislatures in the U.S. have not enacted an economic stimulus aid for the undocumented taxpayers currently unemployed and closed businesses during the pandemic.
For example:
The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP) reported that,
• Undocumented immigrants contribute significantly to state and local taxes, collectively paying an estimated $11.74 billion a year. Contributions range from just over $550,000 in Montana with an estimated undocumented population of 1,000 to more than $3.1 billion in California, home to more than 3 million undocumented immigrants.
• Undocumented immigrants nationwide pay on average an estimated 8 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes (this is their effective state and local tax rate). To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay an average nationwide effective tax rate of just 5.4 percent.
• Granting legal status to all undocumented immigrants in the United States as part of a comprehensive immigration reform and allowing them to work legally would increase their state and local tax contributions by an estimated $2.18 billion a year. Their nationwide effective state and local tax rate would increase to 8.6 percent. (ITEP updated (2017) data of undocumented taxpayers in the U.S. link: https://bit.ly/39lbxBG)
• In Wisconsin, undocumented immigrants paid $21,7 million in personal income, $6.1 million in property taxes and $66.5 million in sale taxes in 2010 totaling at least $94.4M, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy study.
• Undocumented workers in Texas pay $11.6B annually in taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
• Undocumented immigrants paid $35B within 10 years to the Medicare Trust Fund even when they don't qualify for benefits. (HNNUSA/Hispanic News Network U.S.A.)
• The Social Security Administration reported that in the Earning Suspense File has $1.3T in taxes in earn wages, which most of it was collected from undocumented immigrants. (The Atlantic)
• In 2014, Stephen Goss, the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration told Vice News that in the last decade, an estimated 11M undocumented immigrants reside in the U.S. and about 7M are unauthorized workers and 3.1M of those worked with fake or expired Social Security numbers and paid automatic payroll taxes to the federal government. In 2010, a $13B annual net contribution was made to the Social Security Trust Fund.
• In the last ten years (prior to 2017), unauthorized workers have paid an estimated $100B into the trust fund and most of the unauthorized workers will never benefit from their tax contributions later in life, according to Goss. (HNNUSA/Hispanic News Network U.S.A.)
• Only 3.5% of undocumented immigrants make up a small segment of the total population in the U.S. and make up 5% of the labor force in the country (Pew Research Center)
• In 2015, Hispanics purchasing power reached $1.5T, an increase of 50% since 2010. Hispanic women control a majority of house spending. Women spend $3.3B in foot wear, according to the Nielsen report.
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