What is the business cycle implications of the fiscal impact of immigrants? Public and political concerns over the effects of immigration on the U.S. public finances heighten during recessions. This paper estimates the changes to the fiscal impact of immigration over the business cycle (2006 - 2018). I focus on the intensive margin - how much more likely are immigrants to make and receive transfers from the government?; and the extensive margin - how much do immigrants contribute to the government balances? The likelihood that an immigrant receives individual benefits decreases (pro-cyclical) relative to a native during a downturn. The difference in the net contributions between immigrants and natives is consistently positive and increases post-2012. These dynamic changes over the business cycle are due to variations in the immigrant composition since immigrants are more likely to be positively selected during recessions.

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