A new report by the non-profit, non-partisan Immigration Research Initiative shows wages earned by immigrant workers account for 17% of U.S. gross domestic product.

JoAnna Mendoza, executive director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, cited the study and said that percentage equates to $3.3 trillion nationally. 

“You know, a lot of the jobs that immigrant laborers take are jobs that Americans won’t do, and you’re talking about especially in agricultural fields. The dairy industry, specifically, can’t get enough people to fill those jobs, so of course they’re looking to immigrants to fill those positions,” she said.

In Arizona, immigrant wages add up to a $175 billion dollars in revenue according to Mendoza. Even with such a figure, she says there isn’t enough positive discussion about the contributions immigrants make to the national and state economies.