Immigration and Public Benefits

An important issue in immigration policy debates is whether immigration places a burden on native-born taxpayers. Those in favor of less immigration argue that immigrants cost more in government-provided benefits than they pay in taxes, in effect raising taxes for native-born taxpayers. But estimates of the fiscal impacts of immigrants are complex, and depend on the time horizon chosen for the analysis.

In this episode of EconoFact Explains, we highlight current evidence on the long-term fiscal impacts of immigrants. Much of the research suggests that under the most likely scenarios, immigrants are not a significant fiscal drain. Lowering immigration quotas or stepping up enforcement of existing immigration laws are therefore unlikely to generate savings to existing taxpayers.

 

Related content:

Memos:

• Do Immigrants Cost Native-Born Taxpayers Money?
• Do Undocumented Immigrants Overuse Government Benefits?

Podcasts:

• Unauthorized Immigration and Immigration Enforcement in the U.S.