Fair Tax Reform as Solution to Anti-Immigrant Racism
The prevailing view of illegal immigration repeated voiced in the editorial pages of local newspapers would be regarded as racist hatred by many in this country. A slew of social problems is blamed on those who illegally cross this country’s southern border.
We adore legal immigrants but despise illegal immigrants. To think our sentiments about the moral value of another human being is dictated by the administrative process and rules of the I.N.S., widely regarded as inept and unaccountable, is misguided and capricious. To many, it seems arbitrary and hateful that Americans seem to welcome European immigrants but not Hispanic immigrants.
While race is a factor, I don’t think it’s the primary issue and I am writing this post to share an idea directed at alleviating solving the real and supposed racism caused by a growing Hispanic population in this county, a substantial proportion of which is undocumented.
The problem is not that illegal immigrants aren’t white or that they often don’t speak English. The problem is that illegal immigrants don’t pay income taxes. U.S. businesses can’t legally hire undocumented workers so when they are hired they are paid cash and their earnings are not reported. Some illegal immigrants use forged social security numbers and have taxes withheld, but aren’t bearing the same financial burden as citizens. The Average Joe is reasonably upset at having to follow costly rules that others don’t seem to follow. If playing by the rules cost you a job, ruined your business and prevented you from providing for your family, you would want rule-breakers punished.
Rather than build an impenetrable southern border and hunt down illegal immigrants, I think we should consider fair tax proposals which would tax sales, rather than income, as a means of generating government revenue. All workers would therefore be paid without without withholding taxes and pay taxes when buying something. If white Americans were confident that spanish-speaking workers paid taxes on an equal basis, I think the apparent racial hostility would end. Fair tax reform would also help tax unreported income earned by citizens as tips or in illegal activities. Everyone shops. The enormous amount of intellectual energy devoted to planning business transactions to avoid tax consequences could be redirected to more socially-productive productive activities. The overall tax burden would not be increased or decreased, simply collected in a manner that would eliminate a painful distinctions between legal and illegal immigrants.
