A recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found undocumented immigrants in the U.S. paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.
For every 1 million undocumented workers in the U.S., public services received $8.9 billion.
The Florida Policy Institute released its findings from Florida’s role in those numbers.
Florida collected the fourth-highest amount nationwide in taxes from undocumented immigrants – $1.8 billion from about 747,000 residents, according to Senior Policy Analyst Alexis Tsoukalas.
Tsoukalas said the residents would have brought an additional $154 million in state and local tax revenue in 2022 if they’d been granted legal status.
But despite their contributions, many are not eligible for public services or benefits funded by tax money. In the state, undocumented immigrants pay 7.9% of their income to state and local taxes.
“Meanwhile, the wealthiest 1% of state residents pay just 2.7% of their income on average,” Tsoukalas said. “I think that’s really important to highlight that you have hundreds of thousands of everyday people contributing more than their share to public services they can’t even access.”
Florida Policy Institute estimates if just 10% of undocumented workers moved, it would cost the state billions of dollars.
Starting July 1, state law issues penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers. Tsoukalas said the bill, along with other provisions in it, threatens to push people out of some of the top industries with undocumented workers – like construction, agriculture, and farm work.
“People don’t realize, I don’t think, how reliant we are on immigrants and sometimes undocumented immigrants,” Tsoukalas said.
