An updated study from the Cato Institute conclusively demonstrated that immigrants to the United States, no matter their legal status or skill level, have had a positive effect on government budgets at the local, state, and federal levels over the past 30 years.
The study found that “for each year from 1994 to 2023, the US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government” for a total of “nearly $10.6 trillion more in federal, state, and local taxes than they induced in total government spending.” The report also found that these tax receipts from immigrants “may have already prevented a fiscal crisis.”
Yet right-wing media have long claimed otherwise, saying that immigrants harm the economy and are a drain on government resources. These falsehoods have persisted into 2026 and have formed the basis for the Trump administration’s draconian — and increasingly unpopular — anti-immigration agenda.
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