Fact Check: Does immigration, on net, increase the national debt?
National Debt,Facts And Fact Checking
From the Center
AllSides Media Bias Rating: Center
NO. Many analyses have found immigration as a whole has a positive fiscal impact.
The libertarian Cato Institute analyzed the fiscal impact of all immigrants (both legal and undocumented) between 1994 and 2023 and found immigrants paid more in taxes than they received in benefits every year during that period. Overall, immigrants had a positive fiscal impact of $14.5 trillion between 1994 and 2023.
AllSides highlights content from Gigafact, a network of newsrooms that respond to online claims. View the full fact brief on Econofact.
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