A bill introduced on Thursday in the Michigan Legislature would ban illegal aliens in the state from sending money transfers overseas.
Senate Bill 774, introduced by Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, would require any financial institution that facilitates electronic money transfers internationally to verify “that the sender of a foreign remittance transfer is not an unauthorized alien.”
“Millions of illegal immigrants have flooded our country, taken American jobs, and then sent that money out of our economy,” Runestad said in a statement. “They are not investing in our communities or helping our families. They are draining resources and ransacking the opportunities meant for lawful residents.”
“Michigan needs to get serious about border security and enforcing immigration law, and that includes addressing the economic systems that reward and enable illegal activity,” he added.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the U.S. loses at a minimum $200 billion annually due to remittances. Some of those funds sent overseas have reportedly made their way to cartels and human smugglers.
“Countless foreign nationals, many of whom are here illegally, send a significant percentage of their salaries abroad,” said Shari Rendall, FAIR’s state and local engagement director. “According to the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, Central American and South American foreign nationals send anywhere from 17% to 30% of their salaries abroad.”
“The fact that individuals send money back to their families in their home countries creates an incentive for them to take the perilous journey to the U.S,” Rendall added. “This is especially true considering how far U.S. dollars go in most foreign countries.”
The legislation comes in the wake of a flood of fraud and laundering reports by Somali immigrant communities across the Midwest.
As part of a federal probe into welfare fraud in Minnesota, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a Geographic Targeting Order directing banks and money transmitters in the Minneapolis area to report transactions over $3,000 that are transferred outside the U.S.
“All entities in the administration will be pursuing this so that we can get the biggest recoveries possible and we will see, and we are going to leave no stone unturned, whether it was fraudulent real estate, whether it is money that has been wired overseas, we will be tracking it to the Middle East and East Africa,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month. “This is why Treasury is involved. This is what we do. We track, we follow the money, and we intend to follow it.”
In Michigan, the Office of Inspector General will audit the state’s childcare subsidy system after requests by Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, The Midwesterner reported.
The Transportation Security Administration reportedly flagged $700 million in cash being transported in luggage leaving Minneapolis in the last two years. In Ohio, $130 million in cash was traced heading from the Columbus airport to Minnesota.
