Why doesn't the US government just tax illegal immigrants a little bit more than the Average american? Then use those funds to fix infastructure or a new WPA of the 21st century?
Because the point isn't to actually "fix" anything.
I’d really like to fix the whole mess. Our economy relies on these folks but they are kept a second class, subject to exploitation and prosecution at any time. All so agricultural and construction labor can be got for less than minimum wage. It’s disgusting and broken. And anytime the racists get riled up, they have a legal basis to browbeat everyone with. It’s ridiculous.
People who are in the country illegally do not have authorization to work. You can't tax them at all, at least officially, without giving them the authorization to work.
Now, of course these folks are working, and either getting paid without their employers declaring them, or paying them and withholding taxes with fraudulent identities, both of which are illegal for the employer as well as the employee. So, unofficially, they may be paying taxes, but if the authorities knew they were illegal they would probably be deported, especially in today's hyper ICE environment.
A solution like you propose would acknowledge the basic humanity of these people, which is against everything the ruling party here stands for. So it will never happen.
(Edit: see the replies downstream, most of my post is uneducated bullshit)
You can't tax them at all, at least officially, without giving them the authorization to work.
You should probably know that this isn't correct at all. Undocumented immigrants do in fact pay income tax in the US. The IRS issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to everyone, regardless of status.
Regardless of immigration status, both resident and nonresident immigrants may have federal tax return and payment responsibilities under the Internal Revenue Code.
https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/undocumented-immigrants-can-do-pay-taxes-2025-02-26/
Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $97 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, according to a July 2024 report , opens new tab by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which used data on taxpayers with ITINs to estimate tax revenue.
The ITEP report said undocumented immigrants contributed $59.4 billion to the federal government, including payments for federal income tax and federal social insurance such as Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment Insurance.
Interesting, I didn't know this at all. Thanks for the links.
But I wonder how much longer this program can be kept up, now that this administration has made it clear they want all these people to leave, and will dispatch masked thugs to do so. Seems like applying for one of these TINs now is basically putting a sign on your back saying "Deport Me!"
Your question is not stupid. But a solid portion of the US is stupid enough to accept the propaganda that's thrown around constantly. These are boot lickers who can't understand why people don't envy their "freedom". Freedom in this instance is allowing white straight people to prosper. The US has an education problem, and that isn't going to be fixed anytime soon.
Because late stage capitalism racism
The stupid thing is done right it would be the easiest to make "mexico" pay for the wall
Why do that when they can just enslave them? They are turning them into forced prison labor with life sentences. They “pay” them $1/day, then charge them $90/day for the costs of imprisonment, ensuring they are trapped in the system forever.
That'd be a bandaid solution at best... to a water main break. And the final solution our current government wants doesn't even address the problem in the first place
If illegal immigrants were possible to be identified easily by the IRS, ICE would have taken them over already.
The problem is two-fold. A lot of the immigrants who fall into this "illegal" category are not on the books, they get a brown envelope, and pay little to no taxes at all. And the more "sophisticated" ones look just like your average American. So if you taxed them more, you'd be affecting a lot of the "legal" population as well.
Also, the American economy is full of jobs that no "non-deportable" would like to do. Agricultural jobs come to mind. The current regime's idea of eradicating all illegal immigrants runs contrary to a lot of economic interests (and I read that they've done a lot less deporting on the farms recently. Curious ...) Even if you could just tax them more, you'd still mess with those interests as well.
And while I'm not a tax lawyer, I'm gonna go out in a limb here and say it's not going to be easy to make a tax law like that that isn't going to be heavily scrutinized in the courts because it is unabashedly discriminatory.
Undocumented immigrants already pay more in taxes while not being eligible for most benefits programs.
This isn't about a rational solution, it's racism.
Dumb question but how can someone be undocumented while also being taxed? Wouldn't being taxed require someone to be documented?
If they're using fake papers to work, they're paying income tax (and payroll tax is paid for them as well) but can't file for a refund or unemployment insurance payments. They pay into Social Security but won't be able to collect it (though I think anyone under 50 can probably relate to that).
When they buy things, they pay sales tax like anyone else.
They pay their landlady's property tax if renting and pay it themselves if not.
The IRS issues "Individidual Tax Identification Number" for undocumented immigrants who don't have a social security number.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Taxpayer_Identification_Number
Not necessarily. Sales taxes, payroll taxes, and income taxes are all paid by people who are living somewhere while not being an immigrant with a visa or the like.