Measure for Measure : The Uneasy Marriage of Tax Policy and Immigration Reform

The United States has deeply contradictory policies related to undocumented immigrant workers. America's disparate immigration and tax policies include immigration directives that designate deportation proceedings for any immigrant living in the U.S. without proper authorization. Simultaneously, the government's enforcement of its tax laws requires undocumented workers to apply for a tax identification number in order to file taxes because, as undocumented immigrants, they do not qualify for a valid Social Security Number. Additionally, undocumented workers do not qualify for Social Security benefits, but they are subject to mandatory Social Security and Medicare payroll tax with-holdings on their W-2 wages. This results in a schizophrenic existence for undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Undocumented immigrants financially contribute to their communities by way of income, employment and sales taxes. However, in their undocumented state, they possess no political power while the United States simultaneously enforces incongruent tax and immigration laws. The result is a fractured and tenuous marriage of opposing ideals. These ideals, manifest as tax and immigration policy, will be explored herein