Title: Myths and facts about immigration to the United States - RationalWiki
Headings: Myths and facts about immigration to the United States
Myths and facts about immigration to the United States
Contents
The myths
"Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes"
"Immigrants come here to get 'welfare'"
"Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries"
"Immigrants take jobs and opportunities away from Americans"
"Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy"
"Immigrants don’t want to learn English or become Americans"
"Most immigrants cross the border illegally"
"Weak U.S. border enforcement has led to high levels of illegal immigration"
Illegal immigrants are the source of many communicable diseases
"Illegal immigrants cause crime"
"The government is not enforcing existing immigration laws"
Problems that arise when blanket deportation is attempted
In a nutshell
See also
External links
References

Content: Myths and facts about immigration to the United States - RationalWiki
Myths and facts about immigration to the United States
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Naturalization ceremony for 500 new Americans. Making the melting pot
Immigration

Immigrants welcome, racists not
v - t - e
“ ” Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door! —Excerpt from The New Colossus, as engraved at the Statue of Liberty, greeting millions of immigrants at Ellis Island
Anti-immigration proponents in the United States make many claims about illegal immigration from Mexico that are based on exaggerations, misconceptions, myths and outright lies. Some of their complaints may be true on a very small scale, but by and large, most of their assertions do not reflect the actual trends in illegal immigration into the U.S.
Further, those who oppose illegal immigration tend to focus their rhetoric on appeals to emotion with scant evidence, such as claiming illegal immigrants are " taking our jobs" and "threatening our security". Their only "solution" seems to be, "kick out the wetbacks and build a wall" (which would actually cause major damage to the U.S. economy). Contents
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1 The myths
1.1 "Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes"
1.2 "Immigrants come here to get 'welfare'"
1.3 "Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries"
1.4 "Immigrants take jobs and opportunities away from Americans"
1.5 "Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy"
1.6 "Immigrants don’t want to learn English or become Americans"
1.7 "Most immigrants cross the border illegally"
1.8 "Weak U.S. border enforcement has led to high levels of illegal immigration"
1.9 Illegal immigrants are the source of many communicable diseases
1.10 "Illegal immigrants cause crime"
1.11 "The government is not enforcing existing immigration laws"
2 Problems that arise when blanket deportation is attempted
3 In a nutshell
4 See also
5 External links
6 References
The myths
"Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes"
Immigrants pay property taxes either via home ownership or rental, as well as sales tax when purchasing goods in the U.S. Depending on their employers, the immigrants also pay federal, state, and local income taxes. Analysts told VICE News the population will contribute at least $12 billion to the federal government in 2015, and at least $10.6 billion to state and local governments via income and payroll taxes. Studies in New York state and Los Angeles County from the 1990s found that the majority of taxes paid by undocumented immigrants went to the federal government rather than state or local.