Senator Dodd response

A while ago I wrote to Senator Dodd my views of illegal immigration and in a nice way told him I finally expected him to get off his ass and do something already.

His response was quite winded. So I will paste the most relevant paragraph for you to digest.

". . . comprehensive immigration reform also needs to acknowledge the realities associated with the millions of undocumented workers who are currently in the United States, living in the shadows. These workers have broken our laws and need to face penalties but we must also remember that most of them are not hardened criminals and are simply here to earn a better living for their families. Moreover, many of them play an indispensable role in our economy. Studies suggest that undocumented workers enhance our country's economic productivity on the whole. Aside from working jobs that few native-born Americans are taking on, two-thirds of undocumented immigrants have income tax withheld from their paychecks. Undocumented aliens are estimated to contribute $7 billion annually to Social Security through their payroll taxes that goes unclaimed."

Can you get your head around that?

Here is my response:

On April 21, you wrote to me regarding immigaration; "Studies suggest that undocumented workers enhance our country's economic productivity on the whole. Aside from working jobs that few native-born Americans are taking on, two-thirds of undocumented immigrants have income tax withheld from their paychecks. Undocumented aliens are estimated to contribute $7 billion annually to Social Security through their payroll taxes that goes unclaimed."

I have several questions. One, what studies are you referring to? Every study I have actually read versus summaries state exactly the opposite. So, I would like to know where you get your information. Two, how does a undocumented worker have withholdings? If they aren't documented, how do you track and administer these funds?

It is wonderful that illegal immigrants somehow add $7 billion to Social Security. So taking that your numbers are correct, which my research shows otherwise, then we would take the $45 billion they cost us in other services, such as health care, education, criminal justice, etc. and subtract your $7 billion we get, a negative $38 billion. So where is the additional $38+ billion coming from? Remember, it has to be more than $38 billion since the so called studies state that these immigrants enhance our economy. I look forward to your response.

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Does anyone have the actual data? Thanks