# This is the economic truth about undocumented immigrants | Opinion

- URL: https://theranews.net/blog/2026-05-08-this-is-the-economic-truth-about-undocumented-immigrants-opinion-b03cef/
- Published: 2026-05-08
- Type: Archive summary (AI-assisted summary of third-party reporting)
- Original outlet: northjersey
- Original report: https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2026/05/08/undocumented-immigrants-u-s-economy-opinion/89961523007/
- Topics: mental-health
- Publisher: TheraNews, operated by AdvancedCare USA Inc.
- Notice: Educational content, not medical, legal, billing or financial advice. Cite the original outlet, not this summary.

> Undocumented immigrants are essential to the American economy. The data does not lie.

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Undocumented immigrants contribute substantially to the U.S. economy, paying nearly $100 billion a year in taxes. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants contributed $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, the most recent year studied—averaging $8,889 per person. In New Jersey, immigrant contributions totaled $1.3 billion in state and local taxes through sales taxes, property taxes embedded in rent, and income and payroll taxes withheld from paychecks.

More than a third of these tax dollars go directly into Social Security and Medicare—programs undocumented workers are legally barred from ever accessing. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion into Social Security alone. A Congressional Budget Office report projected that immigration between 2021 and 2024 would reduce the federal deficit by $900 billion over the following decade, as the $1.2 trillion in federal tax revenue generated exceeds the $177 billion in spending on programs like Medicaid and SNAP. After immigration enforcement reduced the "other foreign nationals" population by an estimated 360,000, the CBO revised its outlook: immigration actions will now increase the deficit by $500 billion, representing a $1.4 trillion swing.

Undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens or documented immigrants. A peer-reviewed study using Texas Department of Public Safety data found native-born citizens were over twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, two-and-a-half times more likely for drug crimes, and more than four times more likely for property crimes compared with undocumented immigrants. Roughly 8.3 million undocumented workers make up about 5% of the U.S. labor force, representing up to half of all hired crop and field workers, a quarter of construction workers and one in 10 workers in food processing, landscaping and restaurants.

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*This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: [https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2026/05/08/undocumented-immigrants-u-s-economy-opinion/89961523007/](https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2026/05/08/undocumented-immigrants-u-s-economy-opinion/89961523007/)*