Social Security theft is an extremely common crime among illegals, as obtaining one is necessary to work if they can’t find employment “under the table.” In addition to gaining employment, the stolen social security numbers can be used for other purposes of general fraud, such as opening lines of credit.
According to the Washington Examiner, the Immigration Reform Law Institute said that from 2012 to 2016 there were “39 million instances where names and Social Security numbers on W-2 tax forms did not match the corresponding Social Security records. Their report draws attention to a move by former President Obama to stop sending so-called “no match” letters to employers notifying them that numbers used by employees on the wage forms do not match their identity.”
While working under a stolen social security number does mean that illegals are paying taxes, those taxes are pennies in comparison to the overall cost of illegal immigrants to the American economy. Illegals pay about $10 billion in taxes annually (roughly what the federal government spends in a single day), but cost revenue in other ways. First, since most illegals do work under the table, the federal government is losing out on $30 billion in tax revenue they’d be collecting if firms were paying out wages to legal citizens. Second, illegals cost over $100 billion per year to the American taxpayer when it comes to government services (mainly the cost of educating the legal offspring of illegal immigrants).
Not only did Obama cease notifying employers that they were (presumably unknowingly) employing illegal immigrants, his IRS simply began to ignore illegal immigrant identity theft. In fact, the IRS ignored over 1.3 million cases of identity theft by illegal immigrants between 2011 and 2016. In other words, the IRS explicitly targeted conservative organizations for scrutiny under the Obama administration, but gave illegal immigrants a free pass.
Social security number theft is not the only crime that is common among illegal immigrants. According to U.S. Census data from 2011 to 2015 illegal immigrants are 7% more likely than the U.S. population to be incarcerated in adult correctional facilities. However, that greatly understates the true extent of the problem. In America, the average convict released had 3.9 prior convictions (excluding convictions that didn’t result in jail time). Given that illegal immigrants will simply be deported at the end of their sentence (or be deported in lieu of other punishment), the chance of them re-offending is essentially zero (unless they’re to reenter the U.S.).
In federal prisons specifically, illegals are far-over-represented in serious crimes:
Twisted priorities like that are why President Trump has made repealing the Obama legacy his chief priority.
