Those who oppose immigration are often not without bias, Eduardo Stanley, a California-based journalist, wrote on LatinaLista.com.
In the piece, Stanley takes on the argument that immigrants — or as he calls them, “newcomers” – drain public resources by receiving more benefits than the taxes they pay.
Stanley counters that sentiment, arguing simply that “Everyone with a salary pays taxes.”
He also contended that, by law, undocumented immigrants are not allowed to receive benefits, like unemployment.
“These distortions aren’t an accident or a simple mistake,” Stanley said. “They pretend to hide the knowledge of how the economy works in order to keep the system running without being questioned.”
Stanley also claimed that ultra-conservative organizations continue to promote these views. He referenced an example in an article written by Conn Carroll in 2008, reading, “In FY 2004, at the state and local level, the average low skill immigrant household received $14,145 in benefits and services and paid only $5,309 in taxes. The average low skill immigrant households imposed a net fiscal burden on state and local government of $8,836 per year.”
But productivity is the key element of the economy, not taxes, he rebutted. According to Stanley, the measure of societal contribution by immigrant workers cannot be measured by the amount of taxes paid, but by the amount of productivity they contribute to its economy.
