New Bill Targets Remittances for Welfare Recipients
A new legislative proposal introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, aims to place restrictions on welfare recipients sending money overseas. This bill is designed to ensure that taxpayer-funded benefits are utilized within the United States rather than being transferred abroad.
Named the Stop Foreign Transfer of Public Funds Act, the legislation would require those applying for or receiving federal assistance to sign a written declaration. This declaration states they will not send money via wire transfers while receiving aid.
Those found in violation could face civil penalties of up to $100,000.
The bill instructs federal agencies overseeing welfare programs to enforce these limits both during initial applications and when beneficiaries reapply for assistance. Recipients would need to verify, under penalty of perjury, that they have not sent funds through any money transfer service while receiving benefits.
Moreno expressed his frustrations regarding the welfare system, stating, “For decades, Washington’s welfare programs have failed, rewarding addiction while allowing fraudsters and criminals to exploit the system and take advantage of American taxpayers. If individuals have enough cash to send money overseas, they don’t need to take welfare from hard-working Americans. The abuse is over.”
Remittances, or the money transfers made by individuals in the U.S. (often immigrants) to recipients abroad, have gained attention, especially in light of the recent Minnesota fraud scandal involving the Somali community.
Critics point out that many remittances are disguised as ordinary expenditures with little ability to track their origins, raising concerns about accountability. Funds from public assistance are often mixed with personal income in bank accounts, complicating the tracing of these transfers.
In a recent op-ed, Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, discussed the broader implications of migration and financial flows. He emphasized that while individual migration is not an act of aggression, large-scale migrations can stress host countries strategically over time.
Blair noted that the United States is the largest source of overseas remittances, with annual outflows estimated between $80 billion and $90 billion. Some countries, like Somalia, depend heavily on these inflows, with remittances making up around 25% of their GDP by 2024.
He concluded that at this level, remittances become a significant economic factor, influencing governments to avoid large-scale repatriation of their nationals, even those present illegally in the U.S.
