A new report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has found that immigrants in the United States send approximately $200 billion out of the country each year to their home nations.
According to the report, both legal and illegal immigrants sent remittances to 134 countries in 2021. FAIR notes that the total is likely even higher today as the US saw record levels of immigration during the previous administration.
“Remittances effectively represent a transfer payment of hundreds of billions of dollars from American workplaces and communities to people abroad,” FAIR stated. “To compound the problem, many migrants who send remittances out of the U.S. earn so little that they qualify for public benefits. The result is that American citizens subsidize social services and welfare benefits for aliens, legal and illegal, who send much of what they earn out of the country.”
Mexico topped the list of countries receiving US remittances, followed by India, Guatemala, the Philippines, and China. Mexican nationals in the US reportedly send home about one-fifth of their monthly incomes. FAIR noted that in some Central American nations, remittances from the US make up around 20 percent of their gross domestic product.
The Trump administration has attempted to address the issue, with the “Big Beautiful Bill” that recently passed having a 1 percent tax on remittances. The original proposal called for a 5 percent tax. That plan drew sharp criticism from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who vowed to “mobilize” if it moved forward.
“We don’t want taxes on remittances from our fellow countrymen. From the US to Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
