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Ice on Immigration: Myths about out-of-status immigrants
By L. Patricia
Ice, Featured Columnist
Question: Do
out-of-status immigrants strain public services, avoid paying taxes and
commit more crimes than others?
Answer:
Immigrants who are out-of-status (not authorized to be in the United
States lawfully) cannot access government public assistance benefits.
Even though their U.S. born children are eligible for benefits, many
undocumented parents are afraid to seek them for their children.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, public K-12 education is a right
and is mandatory for all children, documented or not. Public schools
are usually funded by property taxes and things like state lotteries,
and immigrants contribute to those funds at least as much as anyone
else. As for health care, the big problem is that the U.S. has no
comprehensive health care program. A majority of the people without
health insurance in this country are U.S. citizens.
Immigrants pay
sales and real estate taxes as much as anyone else. If you rent your
home, real estate taxes are included in the rent. Many out-of-status
immigrants work on the employers' books and therefore must pay federal
and state payroll taxes. Some out-of-status immigrants have valid
social security numbers in their own names and pay into the system with
each paycheck. If they used incorrect social security numbers to get
their jobs, taxes are deducted from their checks, but the out-of-status
immigrants are usually afraid to file for refunds, so they actually pay
more than they should. Some out-of status immigrants who work “on the
books” also pay into Social Security, although many will never be able
to claim benefits.
As far
as crime is concerned, every study ever done shows that immigrants tend
to commit fewer crimes than non-immigrants. The media seems to play up
crimes committed by out-of status-immigrants, but far more crimes are
committed by U.S. citizens. In fact, out-of-status immigrants are often
the victims of crimes many of which go unsolved because they fear
reporting anything to the police. |
L. Patricia Ice
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Featured
IMDiversity Immigration Columnist L. Patricia Ice is an attorney and counselor who has taught
immigration law at Mississippi College School of Law
in Jackson, and also contributes regular immigration advice stories
to La Noticia and The Jackson Advocate. A
practicing attorney, Ms. Ice has recently taken on a two-year role
as an Equal Justice Works Katrina Legal Fellow, focusing on
immigrant employment issues as fair labor standards, and wage and
hour problems, in areas around the Gulf Coast. She is also
dedicated to immigrants rights advocacy, and serves on the Board of the non-profit
rights education group,
MIRA: The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance at
www.yourmira.org.
Articles in this column are Copyright 2006 L. Patricia Ice.
All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce further without
seeking the permission of the author.
IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view.
However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of
the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or
employees at IMD.
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