Posted on 03/05/2006 12:15:18 PM PST by bkwells
MEXICO CITY – Mexican officials are complaining that a bill in Georgia's state legislature to tax the hundreds of millions of dollars that illegal immigrants wire home would unfairly hurt Mexicans working north of the border.
Sponsored by Republican lawmakers who charge that illegal immigrants use basic health and education services without contributing to them, the bill would force anyone unable to prove their legal status to pay tax on their wire transfers.
Mexicans living in the United States sent home about $20 billion to their families last year, more than all the foreign direct investment in the country and a major pillar of Mexico's economy, especially in poor areas.
Similar to a bill in Arizona's legislature, the Georgia measure has passed the state's lower house and is awaiting review in its Senate.
“The recently approved initiative . . . is unjust because it discriminates against people of Hispanic origin in general and Mexicans in particular,” Mexico's Foreign Ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry said it also was following the Arizona bill's progress and could take legal action should either proposal become law.
Finance Minister Francisco Gil slammed the bills last week, and a migrant representative said it was a foolhardy attack on workers he said were helping the economies of both countries.
“Unfortunately, this is a trend,” said Candido Morales, director of an institute for Mexicans living abroad. “Making life difficult for people who aren't legal, but who contribute to both the U.S. and Mexican economies.
While Georgia's bill would only tax illegal immigrants, Arizona's would tax all wire transfers out of the country.
Critics say that the laws would be ineffective, and that migrants would simply ship money home by less secure means.
Supporters of the bills in Georgia and Arizona argue that something must be done to salvage revenue from hundreds of millions of dollars they say slip out of their states untaxed.
“The reality is that a tremendous amount of undocumented illegal immigrants are in this country earing money and not paying any taxes,” said Rep. Calvin Hill, a Georgia Republican who sponsored his state's bill.
“They are utilizing the vast resources of the state but not financially contributing in any way,” said Hill, who estimated $1 billion was leaving the state every year in untaxed remittances from illegal immigrants alone.
Arizona officials said the money could beef up security along its border with Mexico. Hill said it would go into Georgia's indigent health care and education which illegal immigrants often use themselves.
“Now for the first time these people will have an opportunity to partially pay for these services,” Hill said. “This has nothing to do with being against immigrants.”
The Mexican-born population living in the United States is 9.9 million, according to figured cited by the Mexican Embassy in Washington.
Thanks for all that great info. SHould have considered Bear Stearns might have something on that---my wife is an investment adviser and clears through Bear Stearns but uses multiple other sources of research. I think we had better all get together on this issue, because NOTHING is being done about it, on the face of it, this issue itself should be compelling enough to constitute one more component of the larger issue of the still-out-of-control illegal immigration juggernaut.
The illegal economy (more than just illegal emigration) is one of the reasons I believe tht FairTax as our tax law would greatly help in the matter.
It would probably help discourage some from coming if they were actually hit with the tax on purchases of taxable items at retail and it would also have the benefit of seeing those folks helping to fund the things they now do not under the present system.
The FairTax is a simple system that is easy to understand and administer and the merchant collecting and forwarding the tax is paid for his two line report out of the tax revenue unlike the present unfunded mandate of income tax system reporting.
Overall, though, it is still a problem with our government and the laws still needs to be greatly tightened up and enforced. You're certainly right about it being an out-of-control juggernaut though. The FairTax could help, I think.
"...that adds to the crime, disease, heavy taxes, and ever-increasing government bureaucracy that that we already contend with as a result of our own failings."
Illegal immigration is our government's doing. Our government is elected by the voters. If the voters wanted change badly enough, they'd elect representatives who gave a damn. So ultimately we're making the same point.
Just so you know, that's not the correct translation. I don't know what is, but I can see right away here that someone put your phrase into a translating program, and the program did not interpret "pound" as a verb. The literal re-translation of "va la arena de la libra" is "go the sand of the pound" (libra=pound, as in, 1 lb). It would make as little sense to a Mexican as it does to us.
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