The State/Federal Fiscal Disconnect on Immigration

Blog Emperor Paul Caron has a post on “The State and Local Tax Contributions Made by Undocumented Immigrants Jacqueline Wolfert (J.D. 2009, Pittsburgh)” has published Note, Reality vs. Rhetoric: Lozano v. Hazleton and the State and Local Tax Contributions Made by Undocumented Immigrants, 6 Pitt. Tax Rev. 83 (2008). Here is part of the Conclusion:

“The current immigration structure places a heavy burden on state and local governments to provide essential services to all people within their borders, without substantial compensation from the federal government. Rather than go the Hazleton route and enact unconstitutional ordinances that financially and psychologically harm valuable members of their communities, local and state governments should work with the federal system to increase funding allocations based on the immigration enforcement burden in their area.”

This is an extremely important topic and one that often is misunderstood in the immigration debate,  Professor Francine Lipman has written excellent scholarship of the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants as well as how the U.S. tax system offers them few of the benefits received by ordinary taxpayers.  And, as the note above describes, there is a “fiscal disconnect” between many immigrant-generated tax revenues headed to the federal government with state and local goverments paying for many local services for all residents, including residents, such as K-12 education.  See Kevin R. Johnson, Opening the Floodgates 152-55 (2007).  The answer to this point has been misguided and futile efforts to “close the border” rather than sustained efforts by states to seek federal support for the costs of immigration.       

KJ