Many say how immigrants, and illegal ones, are draining resources from the American people. Conservative politicians, right-wing voices, and Fox News hosts have banged this drum for some time. However, studies don’t bear this out. Immigrants are Essential to Social Security.
A recent study has shown that “3.1 million undocumented immigrants were working and paying Social Security taxes. Those contributions, estimated at $13 billion in 2010, mostly went into the administrative void. The workers who paid them had virtually no chance of ever collecting benefits. In 2010, only $1 billion in benefits were paid based on unauthorized work”. This is all in print in a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.
So what does this mean for older adults who are receiving or who will soon receive Social Security benefits? It means that undocumented workers are helping to guarantee that you won’t lose your benefits. In fact, those workers are even fattening up the entire system and making it more sustainable.
The conclusion for an aging country like the US, immigration is a necessity for economic sustainability. It also means “the biggest threat to your Grandpa’s Social Security is coming from anti-immigrant and anti-worker ideologues like Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee.”
So get the facts before you vote or criticize immigration policies. Also, the next time you see an immigrant working to make ends meet and send money home for their family, stop for a moment and thank them in your heart for helping guarantee your retirement benefits.