General Politics Discussion [ARCHIVED] • Page 137

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However, when looking at the share of total income paid in taxes, the institute's report estimates the average tax rate for immigrants in the country illegally is higher than the rate paid by America's top earners.

"Undocumented immigrants' nationwide average effective tax rate is an estimated 8 percent," the report said. "To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay an average nationwide effective tax rate of just 5.4 percent."

'Undocumented' Immigrants Pay Billions in Taxes


So, let us cut the bullshit. Most of the reason "illegal" immigration is an issue is because white people fear brown people.

 

What is the undocumented percentage in the area that you live? Are they legally allowed to drive?

By the way, I'm married to a mexican woman who has family in Mexico and some live here when they aren't supposed to.

And yea, I fear some brown people because a lot of them drive with no insurance and fuck up my property.

 

So you think what it will look like it is what makes it bad policy or something? A border fence is shitty policy, but it's a shittiness found in not just Trump but both parties and acting like what Trump's calling for is out of the mainstream considering that the 2006 Act was largely bipartisan and Clinton herself has expressed support for the fence recently is silly.

 

I honestly don't know who you're arguing with or what point you think you are arguing against? Sorry.

 

Yes. They have to show two years of income taxes in the state of Maryland and have foreign documentation. From what I understand they make up about four percent of the population.

Also, having friends or partners of color is actually meaningless in determining the attitudes one has regarding a particular social group.

 

If the fence looks nice, no one has a problem, but if it's just bleak and huge, people better watch out.

 

I'm only laying out my situation to show that I am not bias. You have to have a Mexican ID or passport to get this special driver's license in California, by the way.

The immigration policy really just makes no sense now with this HUGE work around.

I grew up as a minority by the way, sure I'm white, but I was always one of the few white kids in my class or in any given social situation.

 

Well he mentioned that Trump's hypothetical "wall" already existed. I point out that he and Trump may have a different definition of "wall", and then we get to this rebuttal, I am not sure what we are talking about anymore haha.

 

Growing up white, surrounded by people of color, doesn't mean you endured hardship. Sorry.

I'm saying that your explanation for why you aren't bias doesn't change that you may still be biased towards individuals that emigrate to the country.

Personally, I favor open borders. I don't think a human being can be "illegal".

 

That post literally addresses your original premise in the post I first quoted, but I don't really have much more to add so whatever.

 

Well that was fun while it lasted.

 

The bullshit is you have to turn into a race issue automatically. So the top 1 percent gets a pass they shouldn't (needs to be fixed) - but a lot of people pay a far higher tax rate than 8 percent. It doesn't have to be a race issue - it can be economic issue.

 

Yeah, except economic issues are all interconnected with race. This is the real world, race is a factor and can't just be ignored like it doesn't matter.

 

Yes, the issues are intertwined, but it doesn't make you a racist that hates "brown" people because you can see the economic side of an argument.

 

Jo Cox wasn’t killed by mental illness, she was killed by a man with a gun

 

But why deny the racial elements and pretend they don't exist? That's part of how racist people perpetuate issues by ignoring the racial aspects involved in these problems.

It's not just an economic issue, and people aren't just racists or not, there is nuance here.

 

I agree with you that issues are intertwined. I was addressing the comment that made it strictly about race which would be problematic for the same reasons you just stated.

 

I have never been a fan of "if it saves only one life, it's worth it" line of thinking. It can be used to justify just about anything.

 

He said it was mostly out of fear and racism, which isn't saying only, just pointing out the anger that drives extreme views on this issue is most definitely rooted in racial hatred. That's a valid statement.

 

Fair enough - there are plenty of racist out their with their agendas - I can tell you the people in my "circle" that feel strongly on the issue have more of a problem with the economics of it all.

 

Then they should be more upset with the rich dodging taxes, which has a much larger economic impact. Which was the whole point of the initial post bringing this up.

 

I mentioned that needs to fixed as well.

 

But also it should piss you off way more. If not, you're at least a hypocrite and at worst a racist. If we're talking from a purely economic standpoint that is, and ignoring race, one of these is clearly a bigger concern.

 

As was mentioned, race and economics structure one another in various ways. My reference to white fear wasn't reducing it to a race issue, it was saying that, once economic arguments are disepensed with, all that we are actually left with is the fear of the racialized body. This, too, serves an economic logic, for it allows the racialized person to be hyper-exploited in a way that benefits capital on the one hand, whilst also serving as scapegoats for the processes that are natural to markets. We can take a broader view as well, and look at the reasons for migration. They largely relate to neoliberal projects created by the United States and/or the autocratic leaders they support. Again, this is endemic to the internal logic of our economic system. The displacement of blame onto undocumented workers, then, becomes an economic strategy rooted in structural racism.