It
would be good if we could get together and try to come up with a
bipartisan solution to this problem that she has, I think, identified
as a legitimate issue. But ensuring that legitimate financial transactions move freely and
globally, particularly key remittance channels for vulnerable
populations, is a subject of great importance and one on which I and my
Democratic colleagues remain focused. Many of us represent districts with significant immigrant populations
from Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, all across the
globe. We have heard just how critical it is for immigrants here in the
United States to be able to send money that sustain their loved ones
back home. While I am pleased that there is a bipartisan recognition about the
need to preserve critical remittance channels for legitimate
transactions, I must say that I am deeply concerned by some of the
rhetoric and proposals that we have seen from the Trump administration,
which make me fear that access to remittances, particularly for
vulnerable populations, may be in jeopardy. Not only has the President been overtly anti-immigrant in his
rhetoric during the 2016 campaign and since, he put out an alarming
proposal about how he would force Mexico to pay for a wall on our
Southern border. He proposed cutting off access to remittance transfers
for anyone who couldn't document their immigration status until Mexico
agreed to pay an extortion payment of between $5 billion and $10
billion. I also note that while it is essential that legitimate financial
transactions move freely and globally, it is equally important that
illegitimate and illicit transactions do not. For this reason, I am concerned that the amendment before us falls
short in that it fails to call the administration to disclose how it
plans to curtail the flow of illicit funds, particularly funds which
may be coming from key adversaries like the Russian Federation.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants anti-immigrant immigrant