Tax Facts

Posted May 1, 2006 by Vidisha Priyanka

Updated May 1, 2006 at 05:44 PM

- Undocumented immigrants frequently use false Social Security numbers to obtain jobs. Social Security taxes are deducted from their pay but not credited to them because they aren’t listed in the system. In 2003, the most recent year available, these deductions amounted to $7.3 billion. (Source: The Social Security Administration)

- Between 55% and 65% of illegal migrants have income and Social Security taxes withheld from their pay. Many who don’t want to use false Social Security numbers, use Individual Tax Identification Tax Numbers, legal numbers issued by the government to people without Social Security numbers. (Source: Pew Hispanic Center)

-  The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency brought just three actions against companies for employing undocumented immigrants in 2004, down from 417 in 1999. (Source: General Accounting Office)

- About 75% of today’s immigrants are legal permanent residents. Of the 25 percent that are undocumented, 40% overstayed temporary visas. (Source: Department of Homeland Security)

- By increasing the labor supply between 1980 and 2000, both legal and illegal immigration reduced average earnings of U.S.-born men by about $30 per week. 

(Source: Jorge Borgas, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard)