Posted on 02/10/2016 1:59:12 PM PST by drewh
There’s an article this week over at The Last Refuge which might be worth a look if you’ve got an open mind on the subject. One of the less commented on aspects of international relations with Mexico is the volume of cash which Mexicans living in America (including illegal aliens) send home every year to their families. There’s nothing shocking about the idea at first glance. People send money home all the time. But just how much is it? This report straight out of Mexico may come as a bit of a shock.
Remittances sent home by Mexicans working outside the country surpassed petroleum revenues in 2015 for the first time. There was a 4.75% increase in money sent from abroad, most of which comes from the U.S., to total US $24.8 billion last year, up from $23.6 billion in 2014, said the Bank of México.
The bank said it was the first time remittances had totaled more than petroleum revenues since it began tracking them in 1995. Oil revenues last year totaled $23.4 billion. This is apparently the reality of the Mexican economy. They have more cash flowing into the country via letters and wire service from people working in the United States than they get from exporting oil. And it’s not peanuts. As the author notes, this offers an opportunity for the next President to apply leverage if they have the will to do so.
Yes, you read that correctly. Immigrant remittances received by Mexico have surpassed Mexico’s $23.4 billion in oil earnings. This means the government of Mexico is more dependent than ever on the earnings of maids and gardeners in the U.S. to keep itself afloat. This is the leverage Donald Trump talks about to pressure Mexico to pay for the border wall.
Trump’s proposal carries: the border wall solution, the employment solution, the enforcement mechanisms of current law, and another angle that is strategically essential. “WESTERN UNION REMITTANCES†(Money Services Compliance) Is it possible? Absolutely, assuming you can mount the pressure required to make it happen. It would be complicated and politically messy, but such things don’t seem to bother Trump much to begin with. It all comes down to the idea of directing law enforcement to direct resources and vigorous attention to impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages. And once the word is out on the street that such payments are being looked at closely, both through electronic transactions and the purchase of money orders from banks and post offices, the flow might not be stopped but it would be severely reduced.
There’s an obvious downside to such a deal which can’t be ignored. Making a deal with Mexico to not do that if they agree to certain terms and conditions (such as working on wall construction) carries with it an admission that we’re not going to enforce the law or pay attention to illegals currently in the country. But as I said… this is a complicated puzzle to solve. If the effort to monitor and seize remittances in this fashion is beyond the scope of available resources then it’s not going to get done anyway. And if the result is a wall, well… perhaps you come up with a net win out of the deal.
Yeppers. Every Mexican in this country sends money back to Mexico. Every one of them!
A billion here, a billion or two there...
Pretty soon it adds up to something real (like a wall.)
Here is another case where they all scream, “How can he say that!” and then come around to “He’s right!”
Drug lords would start a money delivery service and cut out WU.
That’s just the remittances.
How about the profits on drug running? Which, incidentally, the Mexican government has always shared.
This thought has crossed my mind many times.
We absolutely can make them pay for the wall.
Taxing 25 billion a year that is sent back to Mexico would be easy pickings.
Americans are largely unaware of the vast global economy they maintain via remittances. Roughly a quarter of a trillion dollars is sent in to the global economy every year— this is what we are directly aware of.
For many nations, including Mexico, remittances from the US are the number one economic input.
This is why it is rather absurd to pretend America is not exceptional. We fund a huge number of global economies.
We can demand cooperation on this vast enterprise or we can tax it or even shut it down. We easily have power over remittances.
Where there’s a “will”, there’s a “way” ..... the problem is that there has been no political will to anything about an issue that is hurting American citizens. Politics & power, not what is best for America, has been the rule for a long, long time now .... and the establishment types wonder why we’re mad.
Change the color of the paper money.
Likely that the drug industry is Mexico’s largest money maker. Isn’t Mexico now the largest illegal drug economy in the world? If it weren’t for the drug trade Mexico would be a dying country with an astounding negative growth rate.
I never doubted for one millisecond that this was possible. Like everything in service of the public weal, all that is needed? Political will.
Duh.
What I’ve been saying for months. A 50% surcharge on remittances to Mexico - much more constitutional than the income tax, and would help to depress the incentives for them to come here in the first place.
Posted about 15 stories down. Search before you post.
Just a threat of tariffs on Mexico manufactured goods flowing tax free in US, would make Mexico cough up money instantly to build the wall.
Trump is right again!
Just a threat of tariffs on Mexico manufactured goods flowing tax free in US, would make Mexico cough up money instantly to build the wall.
Trump is right again!
Pussy cat, Pussy Galore, Pussy Footing are OK. Just no P*ssy Ted. ;-)
WOW I had NEVER thought of this aspect!!! Western Union and check cashing places are wall to wall in CA. !!!!!!!!
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