Robeson County Passes Quarter-Cent Sales Tax Increase

On Tuesday of this week.

The vote was marred by the public utterance of one of the Robeson County Commissioners afterward. Commissioner Oxendine (a Democrat, incidentally) said he was proud of the vote because it shifted part of the tax burden onto illegal immigrants. We're not making that up. His actual quote: "I'm really happy it passed. I think it will also move some of the tax burden onto immigrants in our county. They come in and use our services and don't pay anything. [Raising the sales tax] is a way for them to pay us back."

Good Gawd, man! You might think such things, but saying them out loud is just ... gross.

Also factually inaccurate. Immigrants, whether legal or illegal, already pay the exact same sales and consumption taxes that the rest of us do. The U.S. Social Security Administration has estimated that three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes. They contribute $6-7 billion in Social Security funds that they will never be able to claim.

But never mind such facts when a petty local politician can score gratuitous political points by scapegoating them.