Arizona's tax base eroded by anti-immigrant legislation.

Even the cookie monster says: "STOP SB1070"
Resistance Alley, Phoenix (June 4, 2011)

Apparently, America's undocumented immigrants paid $11 billion in taxes last year, while the multinational GE paid NOTHING. No wonder Arizona's economy is still in the gutter - we chased away all the honest, hard-working taxpayers, while cutting extra breaks to freeloading, exploitative corporations...So, thanks a lot SB1070, ALEC, Russ Pearce, and Jan Brewer - and all the idiots who voted for the right wing last election thinking they were protecting their own interests. You screwed us all.

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Unauthorized Immigrants pay taxes too.

Immigration Policy Center

April 18, 2011

Estimates of the State and Local Taxes Paid by Unauthorized Immigrant Households

Tax Day is an appropriate time to underscore the often-overlooked fact that unauthorized immigrants pay taxes. The unauthorized, like everyone else in the United States, pay sales taxes. They also pay property taxes—even if they rent. At least half of unauthorized immigrants pay income taxes. Add this all up and it amounts to billions in revenue to state and local governments. The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has estimated the state and local taxes paid in 2010 by households that are headed by unauthorized immigrants.

These households may include members who are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. Collectively, these households paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes. That included $1.2 billion in personal income taxes, $1.6 billion in property taxes, and $8.4 billion in sales taxes. The states receiving the most tax revenue from households headed by unauthorized immigrants were California ($2.7 billion), Texas ($1.6 billion), Florida ($806.8 million), New York ($662.4 million), and Illinois ($499.2 million) {See Figure 1 and Table 1}. These figures should be kept in mind as politicians and commentators continue with the seemingly endless debate over what to do with unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. In spite of the fact that they lack legal status, these immigrants—and their family members—are adding value to the U.S. economy; not only as taxpayers, but as workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs as well.