Undocumented immigrants
Alex Breiding
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Op/Ed
With no surprise, I was appalled by the latest diatribe from Adam Yu entitled, "All aboard the free rider express!" For those who missed the column or have simply stopped reading the garbled nonsense that appears under "Today's Issues" every week, Mr. Yu used the phrase "free rider express" to describe the existence of undocumented immigrants in the US - specifically their inclusion as human beings in the decennial US census. It is nonsensical to call the experiences of those who enter the US and live their lives under the oppression of people such as Mr. Yu as a "free ride express." The most obvious "free ride express" is one lived out by those with the most privilege - the individuals who are most oppressive of the undocumented immigrants.
It's not difficult to come by the typical complaint that undocumented immigrants are receiving benefits, while "hardworking Americans" are paying the bill by means of taxes (notice the nationalist ideal in proclaiming that only US citizens are American, rather than a citizen of any nation in South America). It is obvious that many Conservatives miss the purpose of taxes: the redistribution of wealth. Taxes are a way to combat inequality in a system that breeds inequality. The inequalities that taxes are supposed to combat are not just economic disparities but also unequal access to services which are reserved for the privileged. Undocumented immigrants rightfully receive such benefits from taxes because they are subject to the inequalities of society. Thus, taxes serve their purpose when benefitting undocumented immigrants. Furthermore, individuals that share the opinions of Mr. Yu seem to be under the impression that everyone in the US contributes the same amount of money when completing their taxes. As a basic rule, the more wealth an individual has, the more that individual must pay to the IRS. According to the IRS in 2007, the richest one percent of the American population owns as much as the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent and contributes 40 percent of the total tax revenue of the nation. On the other hand, the lower half of the nation, as ranked by adjusted gross income, contributes less than three percent of the total tax revenue of the nation. Undocumented workers have consistently held the lowest incomes of this lower tax bracket. In addition, undocumented workers represent about five percent of all the estimated workers in America (Urban Institute). Therefore, even if each undocumented worker were allowed citizenship and contributed to the nation's tax revenue, the difference between the total tax revenue with the contribution of the undocumented workers and without would be statistically insignificant.
It's not difficult to come by the typical complaint that undocumented immigrants are receiving benefits, while "hardworking Americans" are paying the bill by means of taxes (notice the nationalist ideal in proclaiming that only US citizens are American, rather than a citizen of any nation in South America). It is obvious that many Conservatives miss the purpose of taxes: the redistribution of wealth. Taxes are a way to combat inequality in a system that breeds inequality. The inequalities that taxes are supposed to combat are not just economic disparities but also unequal access to services which are reserved for the privileged. Undocumented immigrants rightfully receive such benefits from taxes because they are subject to the inequalities of society. Thus, taxes serve their purpose when benefitting undocumented immigrants. Furthermore, individuals that share the opinions of Mr. Yu seem to be under the impression that everyone in the US contributes the same amount of money when completing their taxes. As a basic rule, the more wealth an individual has, the more that individual must pay to the IRS. According to the IRS in 2007, the richest one percent of the American population owns as much as the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent and contributes 40 percent of the total tax revenue of the nation. On the other hand, the lower half of the nation, as ranked by adjusted gross income, contributes less than three percent of the total tax revenue of the nation. Undocumented workers have consistently held the lowest incomes of this lower tax bracket. In addition, undocumented workers represent about five percent of all the estimated workers in America (Urban Institute). Therefore, even if each undocumented worker were allowed citizenship and contributed to the nation's tax revenue, the difference between the total tax revenue with the contribution of the undocumented workers and without would be statistically insignificant.