Donald Trump has spent years attacking undocumented immigrant families in particular as lowlife takers who contribute nothing to society but crime, but like so many of the impeached president’s rants, it’s always about more about him than undocumented moms and dads. In an explosive development just days before the first 2020 presidential debate, The New York Times revealed that the alleged billionaire paid just $750 in taxes in his first year as president. $750. That’s it.
Some of the people he’s attacked had a few things to chime in with—including a former employee. Sandra Diaz lacked legal status when she worked at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort from 2010 to 2013. “When I was an undocumented immigrant working for Trump, I paid more taxes in a [month] or two than he paid in a year,” she tweeted. She noted they paid these taxes but received no benefits. “That is fine. What isn’t fine is that our boss, Donald Trump, only paid $750 a year in taxes and calls all immigrants dead beats here to abuse the system.”
The truth is that undocumented immigrants pay $12 billion in taxes annually, including billions into Social Security. The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration estimated in 2014 that undocumented immigrants in fact paid $100 billion into the fund over the previous 10 years—all money they’ll never see back unless they’re able to adjust their immigration status. Barring immigration reform, the vast majority of undocumented workers are unable to do so.
Other undocumented immigrants joined Diaz in slamming the Trump family’s lack of contributions to America. “As an undocumented immigrant, I can now say that I've paid more in taxes than the President,” tweeted Rodrigo Pimentel, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient in Rhode Island. Pimentel shared one receipt showing he paid more in quarterly taxes than the president of the United States did in 2016 and 2017 combined:
But we also didn’t really need to see Trump’s tax information to know the vast contributions undocumented immigrants have always made to this nation, Arizona DACA recipient Belén Sisa noted:
Nevada DACA recipient Astrid Silva also shared her tax receipt. “I’m used to hypocritical stances from Trump supporters,” she wrote. “This is a reminder to those that can VOTE, YOU can actually do something about this. I can’t.” She’s right—remember that with the Trump administration defying Supreme Court orders to reopen the program, DACA is on the ballot in November:
Elected leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro also spoke out to recognize the contributions of undocumented families.
“In 2016 & ‘17, I paid thousands of dollars a year in taxes *as a bartender,*” she tweeted. “Trump paid $750. He contributed less to funding our communities than waitresses & undocumented immigrants. Donald Trump has never cared for our country more than he cares for himself. A walking scam.” In his tweet, Castro noted the billions paid by undocumented families annually and said Trump “needs to stop freeloading off Americans."
“Our current president may see undocumented immigrants as nothing but ‘illegal aliens’ who should be swept up when he ‘takes the shackles off’ the deportation force. And yet we are the ones willing to work and contribute, against all odds, to the country we call home,” DACA recipient Juan Escalante wrote at the beginning of Trump’s presidency. “I am an undocumented immigrant, and unlike President Trump, I am willing to show my tax returns. Will the president of the United States of America demonstrate that he contributes his fair share just like undocumented immigrants like me?”
While the impeached president continues to refuse to release his tax returns, we now know the answer to that. He doesn’t.
