It Is Error Only, and Not Truth, That Shrinks from Inquiry –
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, inventor, political philosopher, and statesman.
In the current footrace between inquiry and truth, ProPublica discloses that The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE
ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.
An estimated 6 million undocumented immigrants file individual income tax returns in the U.S. each year, using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, and many more have payroll taxes withheld directly from their wages.
Please note that, in all inquiries regarding immigrants, I have noted them as “undocumented,” rather than the preferred presidential term “criminal.” A criminal is someone who has been indicted and legally convicted of criminal activity through court process. Such sweeping use as the president makes is hyperbole rather than fact.
And how much do they pay into the U.S. Treasury in taxes?
The most recent, authoritative estimates (for the year 2022) by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy show:
· Total taxes (federal + state + local): $96.7 billion
· Federal government: $59.4 billion
· State & local governments: $37.3 billion
Breakdown of the $59.4 billion federal total:
· $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes
· $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes
· $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes
The rest includes federal income taxes. Estimates based on American Immigration Council data also align, suggesting that in 2023, undocumented immigrant households paid approximately $55.8 billion in federal taxes and $33.9 billion in state and local taxes—for a total near $89.8 billion.
Bottom line: Millions of undocumented immigrants pay taxes through both filings and payroll withholding—collectively contributing tens of billions of dollars per year, roughly $90–97 billion in total tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments.
Regarding how many of these undocumented immigrants have criminal records:
There’s no reliable public data showing how many undocumented immigrants who pay taxes are currently under criminal investigation. Here’s what we do know:
Being undocumented is a civil violation—not a crime.
A recent draft understanding between IRS and ICE allows taxpayer data sharing only for federal criminal investigations of individuals who with a final order of removal have violated a criminal statute, like failing to depart within 90 days.
So, unless someone with a final removal order breaks a designated federal law, the IRS is prohibited from sharing their tax filing information for enforcement purposes.
How Many Are Actually Investigated?
According to Chat GDP, there are no official figures for investigations specifically initiated against undocumented taxpayers. Some high-level estimates conclude that, as of April 2025, DHS sought data on up to 7 million suspected undocumented individuals—but this reflects intent, not confirmed investigations. In any case, ICE arrests increasingly include people without criminal convictions—70% of detainees in mid‑2025 had no record of serious crimes.
Among those detained by ICE since January, around 40% had past convictions, while over 60% had no criminal record at all.
But again, that speaks to general enforcement sweeps, not IRS-driven criminal investigations of tax filings.
Criminal investigations involving tax data are limited to a narrow group: those ordered removed and suspected of violating a federal criminal statute. Exact numbers of undocumented immigrants under such criminal investigation are not either publicly tracked or reported.
For decades, the American government has encouraged everyone who makes an income in the U.S. to pay taxes — regardless of immigration status — with an implicit promise that their information would be protected.
Now that same data may be used to locate and deport noncitizens.
“For years, the IRS has told immigrants that it only cares that they pay their taxes,” said Nandan Joshi, an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is seeking to block the data-sharing agreement in federal court. “By agreeing to share taxpayer data with ICE on a mass basis, the IRS has gone back on its word.”
The cost to government is not a rational tool to evaluate justice, but let’s take a peek on simply a cost-benefit basis.
Congress just passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” allocating approximately $75 billion to ICE over four years, $45 billion for detention beds and $30 billion for hiring and deportation operations. Some estimates suggest the total supplemental spending for ICE and DHS could exceed $170 billion over the next few years.
Presuming (and it’s a big presumption) that Trump is successful in his mass deportations, the four-year loss in taxes to the Treasury would amount to almost $400 billion. So, now we’re approaching half a trillion dollars lost, plus another hundred billion annually in perpetuity.
But that’s only money. What else is lost as immigrants disappear?
Essentially, we will become an in-bred nation. One of America’s greatest strengths has always been that we are a mongrel country, enlivened and made powerful by the cross cultures of those who join us from other nations. They come with a determination to succeed beyond the circumstances available in their home countries, picking the low-fruit of entry level jobs and working up to a sustainable middle class. That international draw to the benefits up upward mobility is (or was) available in no other nation in the world.
Immigrants, especially undocumented ones, often fill essential jobs that many U.S.-born workers avoid due to low wages, physical demands, or poor working conditions. These roles span agriculture (harvesting crops, tending livestock), construction (roofing, demolition, masonry), and food production (meatpacking, seafood processing). Immigrants also make up much of the workforce in janitorial services, landscaping, and back-of-house restaurant roles like dishwashing and prep cooking—work that is critical yet undervalued.
In homes and informal sectors, immigrants frequently serve as nannies, elder care aides, and house cleaners—positions offering little security or legal protection. Many also work in warehouses, garment shops, or through temp agencies and gig platforms, often without benefits or stability. These jobs, though unappealing to many Americans, are foundational to the economy, and immigrant labor helps sustain entire industries quietly and consistently.
Who is the president that would destroy that, but a 2nd generation immigrant himself?
It Is Error Only, and Not Truth, That Shrinks from Inquiry
Thomas Paine has much yet to teach, from centuries ago.