Tax rebates can boost economic growth, and the rebates available in New Mexico this summer are designed to reverse discriminatory exclusions of immigrant essential workers.

During this year's legislative session, lawmakers used a massive budget windfall from the lucrative oil and gas industry to approve some $667 million in tax rebates.

Immigrants make up a disproportionate number of the state's oil and gas workers.

Marian Méndez-Cera, policy and political coordinator for the El Centro Family Health Clinic, said at the same time, the pandemic caused Hispanic and Latino families widespread financial insecurity and high levels of debt.

"Story after story of New Mexican families that struggle to keep their families afloat," Méndez-Cera observed. "Which is with covering basic needs, like shelter, paying for food. It's just things that we need on the daily basis."

Méndez-Cera said El Centro is part of the Economic Relief Working Group formed in 2020 to make sure policymakers understand how much immigrants contribute economically. New Mexico is one of four states allowing residents to use their Individual Tax Identification Number, rather than a Social Security number, to claim tax credits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, pointed out about 17% of children in the state, or 80,000, live with an immigrant parent. She said the rebates are critical for immigrant workers, who represent one in eight workers and pay $400 million in state and local taxes annually.

"What it means is that folks are better able to afford food for their families," Wallin contended. "It can be a rental payment or a house payment for one month for their families. It can mean a major car repair that they've been putting off."

Statewide, about 48% of the New Mexico population identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

Méndez-Cera added immigrant workers and families historically have been excluded from economic relief, tax credits and rebates.

"It is a source of pride that New Mexico is leading the way in a fair tax code," Méndez-Cera asserted. "It is a source of pride that we are rebuilding our economy with such an inclusive mindset."

A new report found undocumented immigrants are paying substantial taxes in Maryland and nationwide.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found undocumented migrants paid more than $96 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, with Maryland seeing more than $770 million of tax revenue.

Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said narratives around how migrants are impacting the nation do not always stand up to scrutiny.

"I think we're able to dispel a lot of myths around this one-sided idea that undocumented immigrants are claiming benefits and not paying any taxes," Davis contended. "It's really not tethered to reality."

With some undocumented workers being paid under the table, the study found if migrants had access to legal status such as a guest worker program, the states and localities would realize an additional $7 billion in tax revenue annually, while adding another $33 billion in federal revenue.

The report showed more than a third of the total paid by undocumented workers goes toward payroll taxes such as Medicare, Social Security and unemployment insurance, programs the same workers are unable to access. With presidential campaign rhetoric often focused on the topic of immigration, Davis noted big policy changes would impact the economy.

"If we're going to dramatically change course on immigration policy, say through ramping up deportations, for example, that's really going to shrink the size of the labor force at a time when a lot of industries are already struggling to fill the positions they have available," Davis emphasized.

While some undocumented immigrants own homes, most rent, and the report found migrants were paying more than $10 billion in property taxes either directly or indirectly via payments to landlords. The study reported most undocumented adults have lived in the U.S. for 16 years or more.

"By and large, these are people who are trying to put down roots and are trying to have a better life for themselves and for their families," Davis added. "These are folks who have been here for quite a while, and who are really contributing to the economy and to our funding of our public services in significant ways."


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As immigration takes center stage this election season, a new study revealed the significant tax contributions made by undocumented immigrants.

The essential workers added nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, including nearly $16 million in Maine.

James Myall, analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said the money helps support public infrastructure and services.

"Even folks who are here without documented status are still contributing to the fabric of our communities," Myall pointed out. "Paying in taxes to state and local government."

Myall argued granting more work authorizations to undocumented immigrants in Maine would increase their tax payments by nearly $4 million and reduce reliance on public assistance. Maine's congressional delegation has been pushing for faster work permits but bipartisan legislation remains stalled in the Senate.

With nearly two jobs available for every applicant, Maine companies are looking to immigrants to fill important roles, including in the state's iconic lobster industry, as more workers head toward retirement.

Myall emphasized with one of the oldest populations in the U.S., Maine should welcome everyone who wants to work.

"The direct care sector, in hospitality, in health care," Myall outlined. "In some of these vital sections of our economy - immigrants are helping to fill that gap."

Maine officials say the state will need 75,000 new workers by 2029 to remain economically viable. Earlier this year, Gov. Janet Mills signed a supplemental budget, which included funding to create an Office of New Americans, to help "new Mainers" with resettlement and integration.

During last week's Republican National Convention, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Americans are not safe due to immigrants committing violent crimes.

That's just one claim being challenged by leading immigration experts.

Nancy Foner, Ph.D., professor of Sociology at City University of New York's Hunter College, said labeling immigrants as criminals is an old, but persistent, myth.

She pointed to data showing that the vast majority of immigrants are not violent criminals.

"The foreign born, in fact, are much less likely than the native-born to commit violent crimes," said Foner. "And in fact, cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have much lower crime and violence than comparable non-immigrant neighborhoods."

Immigrants were also blamed for smuggling fentanyl across the 2,000-mile southern border.

But according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 90% of the drugs linked to overdose deaths are smuggled by U.S. citizens through legal ports of entry.

Cruz also said immigrants were being allowed into the U.S. to vote in the upcoming elections - a conspiracy theory about something that never, or almost never, happens.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, pointed out that non-citizens are not legally allowed to vote in federal elections, and don't in part because they could be immediately deported if caught.

"To cast one ballot in an election in which 160 million ballots are going to be cast, it happens exceedingly rarely," said Becker, "largely because the states and federal government already have really good policies in place."

Others claimed immigrants were "receiving welfare."

Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants are not eligible for the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps), Social Security or other benefits - although they do pay payroll and other taxes that fund those programs.

She said immigrants actually strengthen America's economy, but local governments can feel squeezed if immigrants earn low wages.

"That negative impact, it mostly comes from education," said Orrenius. "K-12 education is expensive. The spending on education is an investment. Those investments are going to pay back many times what's invested."



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