A member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona has introduced a bill that would ban those residing in the United States from sending money back to Mexico.
“The President shall prohibit the transmission of remittances from the United States to Mexico,” says the text of HR 7380, written and introduced by Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04).
Often when illegal aliens find work in the United States, they send money back to their family members in Mexico. That is how remittances are defined.
Under the bill, the ban on remittances would last until such a time as a border wall is completed and operational.
The bill would also allow the federal government to spend funds confiscated from cartel activities, or assets that have been seized from cartels and liquidated, to pay down the student loans of American citizens, provide job training for American citizens and also for drug addiction recovery programs for American citizens.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President is authorized to take such actions as may be necessary to use the amounts described in subsection (b) to provide student loan forgiveness, job training, and addiction recovery treatment services to United States citizens,” the bill says.
The bill, introduced on April 4, has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Gosar’s office did not return a comment request in time for publication.
Remittances are a big business.
In January alone, $3.9 billion were sent from the United States to Mexico. In 2021, remittances reached a record high, totaling $51.9 billion.
That number equaled the largest single source of income from another nation received by Mexico in 2021.
“Remittances as a percentage of Mexico’s GDP have almost doubled over the past decade, growing from 2% of GDP in 2010 to 3.8% in 2020, according to the government,” U.S. News and World Report said. Between 2010 and 2020, the percentage of households in Mexico receiving remittances grew from 3.6% to 5.1%.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
