The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

The White House statement comes after a week of frantic negotiations in the Senate.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

Biden’s Friday evening statement resembles a ramping up in rhetoric for the administration, placing the president philosophically in the camp arguing that the border may hit a point where closure is needed. The White House’s decision to have Biden weigh in also speaks to the delicate nature of the dealmaking, and the urgency facing his administration to take action on the border — particularly during an election year, when Republicans have used the issue to rally their base.

The president is also daring Republicans to reject the deal as it faces a make-or-break moment amid GOP fissures.

  • Willie@kbin.social
    36·
    11 months ago

    You’re assuming they receive paychecks at all, though. All undocumented immigrants I’ve known the situations of in my time (which is very few mind you, so it’s possible that this is not the norm) got paid in cash for the work they did, instead of getting a check. And I find it unlikely that the business or person paying them in cash under the table would have gone and paid their income tax for them and announced “These are the taxes the illegal immigrants I hire are paying!” and I even more doubt that the folks who received the funds paid their income tax on their own, since their employers were already playing on their fears of being discovered by the government to pay them lower wages than the market would normally accept (I want to say it was below the federal minimum at the time).

    While I agree that we should totally be getting more taxes from rich folks. It’s not really relevant to the current discussion about the taxes paid by undocumented immigrants. That said, I’m not super concerned about undocumented immigrants paying income tax, since it’s really the fellas who employ them that are the problem. I was only mentioning it because I was curious as to how true what that article was saying really was, since it did not match my experiences.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      9·
      11 months ago

      The first article I linked to shows they do indeed pay payroll taxes. So your personal anecdote does not trump the numbers.

      • Willie@kbin.social
        61·
        11 months ago

        Dang bro, you’re right. I mistakenly assumed the article was over at the section where they presented me with other articles to read, since it didn’t make sense for them to show me that if the article I was reading continued. So from my perspective the article was basically “They pay taxes, we promise.”. They even used language that seemed to close out the article to me before that section by saying “More importantly, the claims about taxes, housing costs and immunizations are false.” and not elaborating further.

        I wouldn’t have even made my first comment had I seen the section below, since they answered exactly the questions I was asking. Haha. I was about to roll in here and ask if we had even looked at the same article, before I gave it a second look. I guess in the end, we hadn’t.

        This whole ITIN thing is interesting, I’ve seen the fields for it in the past, but never really thought about it too much since I always assumed it was for people who are in like… a transitional period of their immigration of sorts, not for fellas who aren’t supposed to be working. The article that the article linked about ITINs makes it sound like you can even get your tax return with it. That’s crazy, but it makes sense.

        • ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world
          7·
          11 months ago

          To add a different anecdotal perspective for you: I live in Texas and work in the construction industry. I work alongside undocumented workers every single day. Jump in the truck “Home Depot Handymen” exist but they are not nearly as prevalent as you seem to believe.

          What most of the guys are doing is getting their hands on some form of fake documentation. Employers are obliged to look the other way until it becomes a problem and so the worker is pretty much employed the same as anyone else. They receive benefits, they pay taxes, they work longer hours than anyone else.

          • Willie@kbin.social
            3·
            11 months ago

            Like I said in my comment, I’ve met very few undocumented immigrants. And realistically, if they can perform a job as a normal person, and pay taxes like a normal person, then even if I have met more, I likely never knew, because why would you go around telling folks about your situation in that case. That’d be a good way to blow your cover. And it’s not like I’m going to ask about their experience immigrating, since that’s not really a subject that’s appropriate to approach with people you don’t know.

            I live in the middle of nowhere, so my experience is likely vastly different from all y’all’s. So it’s nice to hear your perspectives. Thanks for sharing.

    • SaltySalamander@kbin.social
      5·
      11 months ago

      The vast, overwhelming majority, of undocumented immigrants I know, and I know a lot in my trade, receive a paycheck just like everyone else. And yes, payroll taxes are deducted from that check, just like everyone else’s.

      • Willie@kbin.social
        3·
        11 months ago

        Yeah, I learned all about ITINs and other ways that these folks can get real jobs and pay taxes a few hours ago. It was quite an interesting read.