"Even Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes"

On July 29^th, CNN aired Rick Sanchez's interview with Republican Rep. Rick Murphy on illegal immigration (to watch the interview, click on either of the "Even Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes" links at the bottom of the article under "links").

Mr. Sanchez went on the attack right from the word "go", demanding Rep. Murphy to tell him what his "beef" was with illegal immigration."

From there, the interview quickly devolved into ridiculous, rapid fire questions by Sanchez, first by asking him if he "was an elected official", then "do you think that people who come into this country all steal? Do they all live in caves?"

These questions were clearly not designed for an intelligent response, but rather to throw Rep. Murphy off guard so that Sanchez could smugly make some "triumphant" retort.

Mr. Sanchez even countered Rep. Murphy's comment that illegal aliens do not pay taxes by giving the tired old argument that all illegals pay taxes, because they all pay sales taxes and property taxes.

When Rep. Murphy suggested that "well, most cities here don't tax groceries", Sanchez shot back that he was acting like a "smart guy" and he "didn't want to hear his talking points".

For his finale, Mr. Sanchez gave his last "gotcha" statement...

"Did you know that illegal immigrants subsidize you and your Social Security to the tune of 7 billion dollars so that someday you can retire on money they put into the system that... they can never collect?" He quoted the New York Times as his source.

When Rep Murphy suggested that they (the illegals) were doing this on the backs of those whose identities they had stolen, Sanchez replied that he was wrong, saying...

"Did you know that most illegal aliens are given something by the federal government called a 'Tax ID' that allows the government to collect social security taxes from them? Did you know that?"

Well, actually I didn't know that. But let's take a look at the interview point by point.

Mr. Sanchez asks if we think "all people who come into this country steal".

This is what I would call a "reverse broad brush" tactic. Rather than making a broad general statement about a demographic yourself, you imply that your opponent is doing it when they suggest that all members of a demographic are linked to an activity (usually in the negative sense), even if they clearly did not intend it that way. For example, if you said that "illegal immigrants who sneak across the Mexican into the U.S. border are criminals", I would accuse you of saying that all Mexicans who crossed the border were criminals.

See how it works?

And to answer Mr. Sanchez's question, no... of course not everyone who comes into this country "steals". Sure, illegals have been known for stealing at times, some would even suggest as far as saying they steal jobs, but we're not going to lump legal immigrants and tourists into that category.

Mr. Sanchez's next question was "do they all live in caves?"

Now, being the smartass I am, I would've replied "Gee, I don't know Rick, do you?" That probably would've ended the interview right there, but Rep. Murphy is a much nicer guy than I am.

First, Mr. Sanchez sets up Rep. Murphy to put him in a negative light by suggesting to the viewers that Murphy (along with those of us who are also against illegal immigration) that we consider illegals "less than human" by asking him "if they all live in caves".

Then he fires off his first "gotcha" statement by claiming that all illegals pay taxes, because they pay sales taxes and property taxes.

The problem is that first of all, if the store has a sales tax... everyone who shops there pays them, not just illegals. You can't avoid a sales tax; it's simply a part of the product or service that you've purchased. For Sanchez to imply that illegals go out of their way to pay American taxes simply because they shop here is absurd.

When we accuse illegal aliens of not paying taxes, we are generally referring to income taxes, which most illegals do NOT pay. Uncle Sam does not take a big chunk out of their paychecks, because they typically don't receive paychecks, they receive cash under the table. Do you really think someone getting cash under the table is going to go out of his way to tell the government how much he made, especially if he's in the country illegally? I don't think so.

And as far as illegal aliens paying property taxes... well, Mr. Sanchez is correct, some of them do.

But this begs the question; why are illegal aliens even allowed to purchase property here to begin with?

Sanchez mentioned that the federal government actually gives Tax ID's to illegal immigrants, which allows the government to charge social security taxes from them. It should be noted that the Tax ID also enables an illegal to get a loan to purchase property, bypassing the need for a Social Security number.

All this tells me is that this is just one more way our federal government is contributing to the problems of illegal immigration, rather than fixing it. It doesn't seem so strange for them to be so reluctant to enforce its immigration laws now, does it?

I should thank Mr. Sanchez for providing us with more ammunition to use against them.

But now we get to my favorite part; his claim that they contribute over 7 billion dollars to our Social Security system so that "we can retire" and that the illegals receive no benefits for themselves.

Seven billion dollars... that's a lot of money.

So where the hell is it?

The last I heard, our Social Security was close to bankruptcy, if it isn't already. Some have even claimed that it's little more than IOU's. Mr. Sanchez did not specify whether he meant 7 billion a year, or if that was the grand total within a certain timeframe, but either way, what happened to the money?

I'll tell you what happened... the government likely already spent it on "other projects". They can do that, you know. Social Security is not a special "lock box" that's reserved just for you... the Social Security taxes you pay actually goes into the general fund, which is accessible to politicians whenever they feel that they "need it".

Those Social Security statements that you get every few months... that's how much you are owed, not how much you have.

Let me put it this way... when I plan my retirement; I'm not even going to factor Social Security into it. I doubt that it's even going to exist at that point. This is especially true if the Obama administration gets its way and creates a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens, who would then likely qualify for Social Security. You can kiss any money that's left "bye bye".

Besides, Sanchez quoting his statement from the New York Times is laughable in itself, as if I'd trust anything that liberal leaning rag printed; almost as laughable as Rick Sanchez's show itself.

Now go back to your cave.

Links:

Even Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes: (Video) CNN, Rick Sanchez interviews Rep. Rick Murphy, 07/29/2010

Rick's List: Even Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes: (YouTube Video), submitted by CNN

Undocumented Immigrants Buy Into Home Owning Dream: Nurith C. Aizenman, Hispanic News.com, 06/18/2004