The conservative-leaning population of the United States that relentlessly criticizes undocumented immigrants often defends itself with arguments that have absolutely no basis in reality. Russian Bazaar has compiled a list of the eight most common misconceptions about undocumented residents. We will try to prove wrong each of these long-standing stereotypes using official statistics and concrete facts. 

1) Illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans. 

There has not been one serious study that could change this myth into a reality. George Borjas and Lawrence Katz, respected economists at Harvard University, have concluded that illegal immigration has only caused a negligible reduction in the salaries of unqualified workers. Talk of "taking jobs away" from U.S. citizens is simply ludicrous.  

Today undocumented immigrants take on all the heaviest and most harmful work, from harvesting fruits and vegetables treated with pesticides to fishing in the open ocean. The labor of four million Mexicans saved national agriculture in the period from 1942 to 1964. Undocumented immigrants are now faced with a similar mission – saving farmers from ruin.  

2) Illegal immigrants are potential terrorists. 

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, far right politicians stated that undocumented immigrants were a threat to national security. This statement was founded on blind hatred. None of the organizers of the attacks crossed the U.S. border with Mexico, while one, Ahmed Rassem, entered the United States through Canada. So, the U.S. border with Canada (3,987 miles) poses a greater risk to national security than the U.S. border with Mexico (1,933 miles). 

3) All Mexicans are undocumented immigrants. 

Eighteen million immigrants from Mexico currently live in the United States, but only one-third of them are undocumented. Republican mass media outlets intentionally feed this incorrect information to the American public in order to invoke a feeling of ill will towards this category of the population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) frequently makes arrests and carries out inspections in places where Latinos live and work. This situation could be referred to as legalized discrimination. Almost 54 percent of all undocumented immigrants are Mexican, 22 percent are from Latin American countries, 13 percent are natives of Asia, 7 percent are citizens of Europe and Canada, and 4 percent are from Africa. 

4) Undocumented immigrants do not want to study English. 

Even though illegal immigrants do have the right to take free English language classes, they cannot be reproached for not knowing the language. According to data from the last census, only 2.5 percent of Spanish-speaking residents do not speak English. Seven percent of Latino children born in the United States consider Spanish to be their main language.

Undocumented immigrants need English to speak with employers. Unlike a certain category of legal residents, they are not able to receive government aid and put hard, everyday work behind them. 

5) A fence along the U.S. border with Mexico will solve all problems. 

The length of the U.S. border with Mexico is 1,933 miles and the length of the "ideal fence" that Congress wants to erect is 700 miles. Even if this fantastical project comes to fruition, it will still not be possible to stop all the border crossers.  

Even politicians on the far right understand within the depths of their souls that the U.S economy will collapse without a cheap workforce. So the fence could be the beginning of the end of the "great and impenetrable" empire. 

6) Undocumented immigrants are destroying American culture. 

This misconception is most often held by extremists and far-right politicians like Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). It is as stupid to accuse Mexicans of imposing their culture as it is to accuse immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, China, Italy, and other countries of the same crime. America has always been and will continue to be a country of immigrants. 

By the way, Spanish has become the leading non-native language on the entire American continent. 

7) Mexicans want to take over the Southwest. 

Many short-sighted Americans seriously believe that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are fulfilling a secret mission for their government – winning back land that was lost in 1848-1850. Supposedly, sooner or later California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas will go back to the Mexican side. 

Tom Tancredo and his supporters have even tried to find an official endorsement for this theory, but have been ridiculed by professors at top American universities.  

The only reason that Mexicans come to the United States is to earn money honestly. The average undocumented immigrant from Mexico currently earns $11 per hour. In his native country he would earn a little under $1.50 per hour. 

8) Undocumented immigrants take advantage of benefits. 

This is the greatest myth of all. Undocumented immigrants pay exactly the same taxes as everyone else does: sales tax, income tax, Social Security tax, and even property taxes in the form of rent.  

As retired Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan once rightly noted, "If illegal immigrants did not pay Social Security taxes for legal residents, the entire Social Security system would have collapsed a long time ago." 

All told, undocumented immigrants bring almost $50 billion annually to the American economy without receiving anything in return.