One of the most common rationalizations
for racist anti-immigrant politics is that undocumented workers do
not pay taxes and are therefore an economic burden. However, a recent
study by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy and the
ongoing scandal over corporate tax evasion has exposed the inaccuracy
and hypocrisy of this position.
The ITEP study revealed that
undocumented immigrants paid a total of $11.2 billion in taxes in
2010, including income, property and sales tax. On the other hand,
massively profitable banks and corporations like General Electric,
Exxon Mobil and Bank of America paid absolutely no taxes. In fact,
many received refunds and rebates of over one billion dollars, not to
mention the enormous TARP bailouts of 2008.
Clearly, proponents of anti-immigrant
racism are applying a double standard when it comes to taxation. In
the face of mounting budget cuts to vital social services, all poor
and working people, documented and undocumented, should stand
together and demand that the capitalist class pay for its crisis.
