We worry about growing inequality and the dwindling middle class, and advocate various policies to reverse these trends. And yet at the same time, we talk about reducing or eliminating the tax deduction that does the most to promote a more equal distribution of economic well-being.

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Border patrol officers pull barbed wires as immigrants wait at the United States border on March 20, 2024, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)