Setting the record straight on what undocumented immigrants do – and don’t – contribute to the communities they live in.

They have often been accused of draining resources.

Many undocumented people have been paying taxes – like a landscaping business owner we spoke with.

For some, the question is how much undocumented people pay in taxes compared to how much is spent to provide them services.

There’s a lot of things we won’t tell you about this undocumented man; name, age, where he lives…

But he’s been here for 20 years and works as a landscaper to support his wife and two American born kids.

“I came here for most of the reasons that other people come, to seek a better life,” he said.

We asked him what he thinks when he hears people say undocumented immigrants “don’t” pay taxes.

“Since I came here, since I got my first job, I always paid taxes. State tax, federal tax, have a few vehicles, pay tax,” he said.

Elizabeth Ricci, an immigration attorney, tells us yes , it’s a no brainer, you can’t say undocumented people don’t pay taxes in the U.S.

“It’s intellectually dishonest. So everyone’s paying taxes, the question is to what level,” Ricci said.

State Senator Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) supports immigration reform and believes undocumented people cost Connecticut more than it gets in tax revenue.

“The amount of taxes paid by illegal immigrants is about half of what a lawful resident would pay. They’re not able to work lawfully. They’ve got to work under the table,” Sampson said.

A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) – which some have described as left leaning – said based on estimates in 2022, undocumented immigrants paid approximately $406 million of state and local taxes in Connecticut. There’s no estimate on what they cost the state.

“Our research doesn’t really focus on the net effects, but we know that undocumented immigrants are working and paying taxes,” Marco Guzman with ITEP said.

Another study by the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) – described by some as a right-leaning – looked at estimates of both how much undocumented people paid in to the system in Connecticut and how much programs for them, and their children cost. It concluded they cost Connecticut $1.3 billion in 2023.

“They have human needs, and if they can’t afford to pay for it, then somebody else is, and that is the taxpayers of Connecticut,” Ira Mehlman from FAIR said.

The undocumented man we spoke with said whatever numbers you want to quote, he believes by starting his own landscaping business to support his family, and employ others, he’s a net positive to our state.

“I’m not here to steal from the state or steal from other people, I’m just here for a better future,” he said.

The State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management has hard data indicating in fiscal 2024 and 2025 combined, our state spent $80 million on Medicaid for undocumented children up to age 15 and pregnant, or postpartum mothers.

It is worth noting when undocumented people do pay taxes, they often don’t receive the services they pay for, namely, social security.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Shortly before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the Connecticut House of Representatives signed off on a plan to set aside a $500 million surplus into the state’s “rainy day fund” as a temporary stopgap against cuts from Washington.

The $500 million will sit in the state’s budget reserves and be available for use at the direction of Governor Ned Lamont — who must get sign-off from the legislature’s leadership — until the legislature reconvenes for its regular session next February.

When lawmakers were crafting the legislation, they envisioned the funds being used to fill in the gaps created by the federal government shutdown, as well as cutbacks included in President Donald Trump’s signature “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Even with a deal in place to end the shutdown, the legislature’s majority Democrats held to their course and pushed for the deposit into the budget reserves. Funding for programs like SNAP food assistance, Democrats reasoned, should be guaranteed by the state in the face of uncertainty at the federal level.

“To bank on Washington not falling back into chaos or dysfunction is probably not a bet we’re willing to make when we’re talking about pretty important programs,” State Rep. Matt Ritter, the Democratic House Speaker, said.

Ritter’s Democratic caucus voted uniformly in favor of the $500 million measure and were joined by a majority of the House’s Republicans. State Rep. Vincent Candelora, the House GOP leader, helped craft the funding bill and voted in favor of it’s passage. Most of Candelora’s top lieutenants and key committee leaders also voted in favor. 21 members, mostly members of the GOP caucus’s more conservative wing, broke ranks and opposed the bill.

Candelora said that, with the shutdown over and the need to backfill programs like SNAP and the LIHEAP heating assistance program now negated, he is hopeful the money will not be spent — though some Democrats have floated using the funds to counteract cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies that are currently set to take effect in the new year.

“I imagine most of that money will be intact and it will return to the rainy day fund,” Candelora said.

Now that it has won approval in the House, the bill heads to the State Senate, which is scheduled to convene on Thursday.

Jalen Rasheed Skeete, 24, of Bridgeport, is accused of eluding state police multiple times Friday morning, including a during a police pursuit that began in Newtown and ended in Brookfield, according to state police. 

State police said Skeete is also a suspect in Friday’s home invasion and fire at a home in the 100 block of Sylvan Avenue in Waterbury. 

Waterbury Police Sgt. Joseph Morais said the incident remains under investigation. 

Responding firefighters found heavy fire in the back part of the house, overtaking both the first and second floors, according to fire officials. 

Fire officials said the house was left uninhabitable but is not a total loss. It has heavy damage in the back and smoke and water damage everywhere else, they said.

Earlier in the day on Friday at around 7:15 a.m., Skeete allegedly fled from police in the parking lot of a Prospect school and struck a police cruiser.

After the fire, state police said he again evaded capture during pursuits in Newtown before being stopped in Brookfield. 

Skeete is being held on $250,000 bond on charges by state police in the evading in Prospect and the pursuit in Brookfield. He is charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with police, reckless driving, engaging in a police pursuit and evading responsibility.