Immigrants, tax and bullying in the USA

The persecution of anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant in the United States is not only taking the form of armed, masked ICE agents. Tax is being weaponised against them too. An estimated 10.9 million undocumented immigrants are the powerhouse of the United States economy, and also an exploitable workforce with minimal rights. It turns out that they're paying a higher effective tax rate than 55 mega-corporations and several billionaires:

There's something very wrong with our tax system, that people with that much wealth could be paying a lower tax rate than undocumented immigrants who are generally working in low paying jobs.

A nation that's focused on persecuting and purging specific groups of people is not a healthy one. And as people are being ripped out of their communities, we look at the data that show how devastating it is for the economy and public services too.

Plus: bullying at home, bullying abroad: President Trump is deploying tariffs and threats of tariffs against countries who have the audacity to want to tax US multinationals fairly on the business they do in their countries. We look at the options for nations to stand together and resist. 

The US administration wants US multinationals to be more able to continue to commit corporate tax abuse than everybody else.

Featuring:

Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network

Lauren Loricchio, investigations editor, Tax Notes

William Rice, policy consultant, Americans for Tax Fairness

Delia Catalina Ramírez, Congresswoman, Illinois, District 3

Co-produced by host Naomi Fowler and Leo Schick.

Transcript (some is automated and may not be 100% accurate) https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Transcript_July_25.pdf

Further reading:

Information Sharing Deal Complicates Immigrant Return Filing, Lauren Loricchio, Tax Notes https://www.taxnotes.com/featured-news/information-sharing-deal-complicates-immigrant-return-filing/2025/05/28/7sc72

What a 3.5% tax on remittances could do to the developing world, Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Devex https://www.devex.com/news/what-a-3-5-tax-on-remittances-could-do-to-the-developing-world-110206 

Undocumented Workers Pay Higher Effective Tax Rate than 55 Mega Corporations and Several Billionaires, Americans for Tax Fairness study https://americansfortaxfairness.org/undocumented-workers-pay-higher-effective-tax-rate-55-mega-corporations-several-billionaires/

Report: Report: How Undocumented Immigrants Contribute to Our Economy & Pay Higher Tax Rates Than Many Major Corporations, Americans for Tax Fairness https://americansfortaxfairness.org/undocumented-immigrants-contribute-economy/

ICE Agents Deserve No Privacy, the Intercept: "Armed gangs of officers, often masked and anonymous" https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/masked-ice-agents-victimization-accountability/

We’re Now at the Stage Where Criminals Are Impersonating ICE Agents, This is what happens when federal authorities are allowed to seize people without identifying themselves, The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/post/196360/man-impersonates-ice-agent-robs-immigrant-pennsylvania

Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants, Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-2024/

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