Report: Immigrants contributed $8.6B to Texas border city economy

Athens Daily Review
Ali Linan - CNHI Texas statehouse reporter
November 11, 2022

AUSTIN — Immigrants contributed $8.4 billion to the gross domestic product of El Paso, a city on the border of West Texas and Mexico, according to a new report by Texans for Economic Growth released Thursday.

Texans for Economic Growth is a coalition of over 145 Texas business leaders and associations dedicated to recognizing and supporting immigrants' positive impact on the Texas economy as business owners, taxpayers and consumers, per its website.

The report found that immigrants in the El Paso metro area are contributing millions in taxes and consumer spending.

In 2019, immigrants in the area earned $4.8 billion in income, with $591.8 million going to federal taxes and $440.7 million going to state and local taxes, leaving them with $3.8 billion in spending power that was reinvested in the area.

Chelsie Kramer, Texas State Organizer for the American Immigration Council and Texans for Economic Growth, said that immigrants are a value-add to the Texas economy.

“El Paso is another striking example of immigrants' positive impact on communities across Texas,” Kramer said.

In 2019, El Paso had an estimated 46,200 undocumented immigrants living in the metro area.

Those undocumented immigrant households in El Paso earned about $757.4 million. Of that, $35.2 million went to federal taxes, $37.5 million to state and local taxes, leaving $684.7 million in spending power, the report said.

Despite making up 24.1% of the overall population in the El Paso metro, immigrants in El Paso hold 29.2% of the spending power and make up 27.6% of the employed labor force, the report said.

“Robust consumer spending by immigrant households supports small businesses and keeps local economic corridors vibrant,” it said.

Texas is currently spending an upwards of $4 billion dollars through its Operation Lone Star to thwart undocumented immigration into Texas.

As of 2019, more than 4.9 million immigrants call the Lone Star state home, with many immigrant residents concentrated in Texas border communities, the report said.

Texas leaders argue that undocumented immigrants are “flooding” the state, directing the Department of Public Safety to “use available resources to enforce all applicable federal and state laws to prevent the criminal activity along the border, including criminal trespassing, smuggling, and human trafficking, and to assist Texas counties in their efforts to address those criminal activities.”

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has said on many occasions that undocumented immigrants are causing a rise in crime, often placing the blame on President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Abbott also ran his re-election campaign, which he won Tuesday, on being tough on border security.

“Lives are tragically being lost and communities are being devastated because of the open border policies put in place by President Biden," Abbot previously said. "These lax policies invite crime and contraband into our communities because dangerous actors can more easily enter our country and wreak havoc on innocent families.”

But advocates argue that immigrants, typically undocumented immigrants, are the only people willing to do difficult yet necessary jobs in the U.S. for limited pay.

Most American agree with this sentiment, too, according to a Pew Research Study that found that 77% of Americans say the same.

And contrary to popular belief, immigrants do not take away job opportunities from American citizens, according to the American Civil Liberties of Texas. Instead, immigrants “create new jobs by forming new businesses, spending their incomes on American goods and services, paying taxes and raising the productivity of U.S. businesses. Immigrants are good for the economy, not the other way around,” the ACLU said.

“Today, immigrants are contributing to our economy in a big way,” said Jon Barela, CEO of The Borderplex Alliance, in a statement. “Immigrants in Texas contribute billions to our GDP. They help drive our economy and create jobs for all Texans.”