A good friend of mine is slightly bigoted towards immigrants in the US. He sees them as coming here and getting a free ride on his tax dollars and taking away jobs that poor Americans should be getting. That’s his view and I’m not about to change it. The issue here is his constant declaration of immigrants not paying taxes for 7 years. Snopes says it’s false but doesn’t give any concrete info.
What is the best way to show my friend this information without being confrontational or appearing like a know-it-all? Would sending him the general snopes link with a note about the tax issue work? I don’t want to sour our friendship, but the ULs treated as facts drive me bonkers. How have you, my fellow Dopers, spread the truth and stamped out ignorance amongst your friends & loved ones?
At the bottom of the article it lists their source as Udoibok, Ken. “Mean-Spirited Myths Fuel Immigration Reform Bills.” [Minneapolis] Star Tribune. 15 October 1995 (p. A25).
Send him the snopes link but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t believe it. He may be one of those people who live for urban legends and glurge. You cannot dispell ULs and glurge for those folks. They’ll just call you a big ol’ donkey meanie spoilsport. :rolleyes:
Or, after you’ve spent hours trawling up factual information on the subject, will refuse to look at it and tell you that everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Here is a more recent (March 2004) article saying that’s not true. Here is a page of FAQs for immigrants and refugees in western Kentucky saying that yes, they have to pay taxes. Here is a page explaining tax stuff to immigrants, which would presumably mention it if there were a way for them to get out of it.
I’m an immigrant to the US. I was unable to work for a year while waiting for my work permit. However, from the time I started working, I have paid taxes. If there’s a 7-year break on them for us for’ners, nobody told me about it!
