Foreign-born residents sent a record $54.2 billion to other countries in 2014, according to an update to a 2014 World Bank report, with almost half of that going to Mexico, according to new research by the Government Accountability Office.
Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Tom Price, R-Ga., requested in July 2014 that Congress’ nonpartisan investigative arm audit the U.S. government’s process for tracking foreign remittances from non-citizens.
The watchdog’s two reports published Tuesday found the U.S. is the largest remittance-sending country, having increased 40 percent from $38 billion in 2006. Mexico took in $25 billion, and China and India received the second- and third-highest amount of money sent from U.S. residents to people in their home countries, taking in $15 billion and $10 billion, respectively.
Vitter blasted the White House for employing a system that allows untaxed income to leave the country.
“The Obama administration has shown a complete lack of both competence and interest when it comes to securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. And that’s costing us a lot of money. Billions, in fact,” Vitter said in a statement.
In response to the news, Vitter, known as an immigration hawk, pushed his bill, which would allow Americans to capitalize on the large amount of untaxed funds being sent out of the U.S.
In a second report from the GAO, the agency endorsed Vitter’s legislation called the Remittance Status Verification Act. The Wire Act, as it’s also referred to, would require customers who cannot prove they are in the U.S. legally and wish to send money through a wire service to pay a fee that would be used to enhance border security.
“What my legislation would do is basically improve on our border security while making illegal immigrants pay for it,” Vitter said.
If enacted, the law could raise up to $1.29 billion for border security for every $18 billion remitted by individuals who cannot prove legal status, the second report says.
It also could serve as a deterrent to individuals who do not want to pay an additional fee on their remittances. While it could lead to the development of a new criminal financial network, that process would take a number of years to create, but should not stop Congress from considering the bill, GAO concluded.
