Over half a million undocumented Indian immigrants to the US hold a collective spending power of USD15.5 billion and contribute USD2.8 billion to the federal, state and local tax revenue, says an American think-tank report.
Using the latest available American Community Survey data from 2019, the new American Economy think-tank said undocumented Indian immigrants are the top third contributor to the US economy among other undocumented immigrants.
There are 4.2 million immigrants from Mexico who lack documentation. Together, they make up more than 40.8 per cent of the 10.3 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
In 2019 alone, they earned almost USD 92 billion in household income and contributed almost USD 9.8 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
Mexican undocumented immigrants held more than USD 82.2 billion in spending power, money that often goes back into local economies as they spend on housing, consumer goods and services, the report said.
In terms of the number of undocumented immigrants, Mexico is followed by El Salvador (621,000, or 6 per cent of all undocumented immigrants), India (587,000, or 5.7 per cent), Guatemala (5.4 per cent), and Honduras (416,000, or 4 per cent).
With its USD 15.5 billion of spending power, India, however, holds the second position in terms of spending power, followed by El Salvador (USD 11.5 billion), Guatemala (USD 9.1 billion) and Honduras (USD 6.4 billion).
They also make significant contributions to the federal, state and local tax revenue, the report said. India (USD 2.8 billion), El Salvador (USD 1.4 billion), Guatemala (USD 1.1 billion) and Honduras (USD 778 million) are among the top taxpayers.