Immigration is good for the financial health of Social Security because more workers mean more tax revenue. Illegal immigration, it turns out, is even better than legal immigration. In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program’s trustees noted that growing numbers of “other than legal” workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades.
One reason is that many undocumented workers pay taxes during their work lives but don’t collect benefits later. Another is that undocumented workers are entering the United States at ever younger ages and are expected to have more children while they’re here than if they arrived at later ages.
Apr 2, 2008
Immigrants Help Social Security
From a New York Times editorial:
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They only pay SS taxes if they are using a fraudulent SSN. If they later get amnesty (or become legal in other ways), it is possible to claim benefits based on those earnings.
This is probably part of the reason for no real clampdown on illegal immigration. Our spineless politicians probably figure illegals will bale them out on making hard and unpopular decisions on Social Security and Medicare.
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