Immigrants who work in the U.S. under Social Security get higher benefits than U.S. born workers, even if they earn the same amount. This is because the benefit formula favors those with low lifetime earnings and treats years spent outside the U.S. as zero income. Immigrants with high earnings who work in the U.S. for 10-20 years benefit the most from this. If earnings were only counted for the years in the U.S., immigrants would get the same benefits as U.S. born workers with the same earnings. Despite this, most immigrants will pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits.