Posted on 03/06/2006 1:12:39 PM PST by Impeach98
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INVASION USA
Ban on wire transfers by illegals proposed
Supporters believe it will remove major incentive for crossing border
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Posted: March 6, 2006 2:32 p.m. Eastern
James L. Lambert © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A Republican candidate for a vacated congressional seat in southern California is proposing a ban on wire transfers by illegal aliens from the U.S. to Mexico.
The plan "will remove a major incentive for illegal immigration and increase national security," said Howard Kaloogian, a well-known California activist who launched the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis.
Kaloogian is the front-runner for the San Diego-area congressional seat held by Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sentenced last week to eight years in prison on corruption charges.
Howard Kaloogian
"[T]he Mexican government is making billions of dollars every year from illegal aliens who enter the U.S. illegally and then wire that money back to their families in Mexico," Kaloogian said Saturday at a news conference at the border.
The economy, he contended, bears the cost of illegal aliens, who pay no taxes but receive taxpayer-funded services.
"It's absurd that we continue to allow those who have broken the law by entering this nation illegally to then enjoy the benefit of collecting wages illegally and then sending those funds to a foreign nation," Kaloogian said.
Howard Kaloogian at the Mexican border Saturday.
The proposal, if adopted by Congress, would require anyone wiring money to Mexico to provide identification to financial institutions or wire-transfer operators to prove citizenship.
An estimated $15 to $20 billion is moved annually from the U.S. to Mexico through private-party wire transfers. Howard Kaloogian at Mexican border Saturday
Kaloogian said past legislative proposals involving transfers by illegal aliens merely have imposed an extra fee.
The new proposal, he argued, "will establish leverage with foreign leaders such as Mexico's Vicente Fox who has sent a wink and a nod to their citizens to enter the United States illegally, collect wages that ad up to 10 times those paid in Mexico and then send those funds back to Mexico."
Claudia Garcia de Spencer, spokeswoman for the San Diego chapter of the Minutemen volunteer border patrol, spoke at the news conference in support of the proposal.
"Four and a half years after 9-11, our federal and state officials still refuse to confront threats allowing our borders to be breached thousands of times each day by foreigners," she said. "As a new citizen who followed the procedures and obeyed the rules, this (illegal immigration) is a shocking affront to me and is a slap in the face to all loyal Americans."
Kaloogian was a California state assemblyman from 1994 to 2000. He helped launch the pro-troops organization Move America Forward. His candidacy has received a variety of endorsements, including support from Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine.
A special election for Cunningham's congressional seat is scheduled April 11. If no candidate receives a 50 percent majority, run-off will take place between the expected Democrat candidate Carolyn [sic] Busby and the top Republican vote-getter.
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Looks like RWGuy and I had the same point about cashing a check! Great minds think alike :)
"Or are we going to ASSUME the transfer is illegal until you produce your Birth Certificate, Passport, etc.?
"
That's easy. Just say, "Ausweiss bitte!" to anyone with dark skin who tries to transfer money. You can ignore all the others, you see, since only dark-skinned people could be illegals.
And it's all legal, because it's not the cops demanding your papers, you see. You get the bank teller to do it, and it's not a police state.
/bitter irony
You are right, they can in some cases do that. But it's like the point made by the person who said they would use PayPal, yes in some exceptions they would. But why do you think they go to the wire transfer places in the first place? Because it allows them to anonymously/quietly wire money back in a convenient way without detection by the authorities.
It sounds like you are cynical towards those who are against illegal immigration?!?
this would just create an intermediary site for wire transfers to pass through. Say US to FRANCE to Mexico.
You are then arguing that we accept that we know they are here and we will just tax that wire.
The politicians will be lining up to secure that revenue for their favorite projects/interests.
The ones that work normal jobs and aren't paid under the table do pay taxes.
The ones that get paid under the table illegally don't pay taxes.
They ones that get paid as contract workers are responsible for paying the taxes themselves, in that case the employer doesn't withhold taxes, so it's doubtful the taxes are being paid.
Re-read the article. No wire transfers by illegal aliens to FOREIGN NATIONS - not just Mexico. This is also to address an element of national security with money transfers by terrorists here without proper papers/expired papers.
I have a driver's license, yup, but nobody ever checks it. I even have "Please ask for ID" written on my credit cards and STILL nobody checks it.
Besides, there are plenty of illegal licenses available for the illegals. Unless we go to a national ID and make it difficult to forge, a DL is useless as ID (IMHO...).
Sorry, I don't want to have to give my SSN or produce a passport in order to do a wire transfer.
SOME illegal aliens have false documents, but you are exaggerating a bit. MOST do not.
There will be, if you ban wire transfers.
That's because the minors with two brain cells to rub together buy ciggies and beer at a discount from people who've already stolen the stuff. With ciggies and beer, mere possession by a minor is an offense in and of itself. Possession of money by an illegal alien isn't.
You expect there to be a strong financial mob of hush hush money transfer third parties to spring up?
Yes--because this tactic is nothing new, and neither is the countermeasure. In the early 1970s, the Border Patrol staked out Western Union offices in Southern California. That tactic worked--for all of two weeks. A group of enterprising U.S. citizens started making all manner of money transfers to Mexico. We arrested one guy on an unrelated charge (he was in the recreational pharmaceuticals industry), and found that he was charging a 10% tithe--and making out like a bandit, especially compared to what he had to pay his upline for grass and smack. (Most drug dealers only make 1-2% ROI after their bosses take their cuts.)
Western Union won't be opening up a subsidiary in the Yellow Pages advertising "we'll match you up with a U.S. citizen to wire money for you and all your illegal alien friends!
They won't need to. Adam Smith's invisible hand will do the deed for them.
This will stop the folks who can't out-think a politician.
In other words, it will stop only the leftmost end of the Bell Curve.
You don't have to give your SSN?! You show your Drivers License/ID. I do that about 90% of the time I buy alcohol (I'm 32).
Ban it all we want, how could such a law even attempt to be enforced?
As for revenue, I have a few favorite projects. We have to pay for crowded schools (can't have art classes, we need more ESL), ERs, and the biggest expense of all--incarcerating all these law-abding lawbreakers.
I am firm in the belief that it is illegal immigration which is driving down Bush's numbers--the issue is connected to people's overreaction to the Dubai ports deal.
Wait for enforcement? You can. This is something that we don't need the feds for--the states can give it a try.
A DL doesn't prove citizenship.
So it goes back to the employers should be held responsible. I don't see that happening often.
I really liked your point, but it made me realize you were making mine, well, sort of :D
Mere possession of money isn't illegal in and of itself. But LIVING HERE IS ILLEGAL. It's even more of a risk than the kid who gets a slap on the wrist for trying to buy the beer when they're 16 years old.
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