15% of incoming funds to Soc. Security from Undocumented immigrants

How is it that there is so much circulation of mis-information? The common complaint about immigrants is that they unfairly use America's resources - this is often said in regards to DREAMER'S paying in-state tuition.

Today the NYT ran an editorial stating that undocumented immigrants have saved the social security system.

What the editorial does not say is how much money this is --- according to government reports, undocumented worker's contributions are in the billions of dollars - money they will never be able to reclaim.

What a paradox, the new E-verify system seeks worker's in-valid social security numbers - with this information ICE will find more undocumented people - with the purpose of taking away their jobs and potentially deporting them.... Yet those same workers, with their in-valid numbers are saving the Social Security System.


-----
New York Times
April 2, 2008
Editorial
How Immigrants Saved Social Security

Immigration is good for the financial health of Social Security because more workers mean more tax revenue. Illegal immigration, it turns out, is even better than legal immigration. In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program’s trustees noted that growing numbers of “other than legal” workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades.

One reason is that many undocumented workers pay taxes during their work lives but don’t collect benefits later. Another is that undocumented workers are entering the United States at ever younger ages and are expected to have more children while they’re here than if they arrived at later ages. The result is a substantial increase in the number of working-age people paying taxes, but a relatively smaller increase in the number of retirees who receive benefits — a double boon to Social Security’s bottom line.

We’re not talking chump change. According to the report, the taxes paid by other-than-legal immigrants will close 15 percent of the system’s projected long-term deficit. That’s equivalent to raising the payroll tax by 0.3 percentage points, starting today.

That is not to suggest that illegal immigration is a legitimate fix to Social Security’s problems. It is another reminder, however, of the nation’s complex relationship with undocumented workers. Would the people who want to deport all undocumented workers be willing to make up the difference and pay the taxes that the undocumented are currently paying?

It is also a reminder of Social Security’s dynamism. As society and the economy evolve, so does the system, responding not only to changes in immigration and fertility, but also in wage growth and other variables. As such, it is adaptable to the 21st century, if only the political will can be found to champion the necessary changes. Those include modest tax increases and moderate benefit cuts that could be phased in over decades — provided the country gets started soon.



for link to NYT editorial click here