Among this segment of the US population the majority are Latinos. Most have entered the US by crossing the southern border on foot, then meeting at a rally point before taking varying forms of transportation away from the border area.
Immigration, lately associated with the word reform has become the "3rd Rail" of politics with few viable mandates and even fewer answers. The recent increase in the number of unaccompanied juveniles has prompted wide ranging theories but again no solid answers.
Clearly the surge in illegal immigrants is a security concern, perhaps even an economic concern as well. Border states complain of being overburdened with the education and medical needs of illegals, liberals speak of humanitarian concerns, and conservatives of costs to taxpayers.
The flood of immigrant children has prompted call for increased patrols, and fences. But, no
amount of fence, police or military will slow the flood until we remove the reason immigrants illegally cross the border risking their lives in the first place.
And Yes its all about the money - while some will say it is to escape the crime and violence in the Narco states of northern Mexico the real reason is money.
The average illegal immigrant family of four has a median income of $35,000 not bad when you consider that in central America that number is less than 3k.
And the money that is sent home each week by these illegals is in the millions. Western Union the biggest pipeline of remittances to Mexico and Central America collected more than $4,168,000,000 in transfer fees in 2013. If only 1/3 of their transfers are to Mexico or Latin America that still equals nearly 10% of US GDP.
My former sister in law is a good example, in that she sends $200.00 a week home to her parents in Honduras. That's more than $10,000 per year that permanently leaves our economy. She like many of her friends are in "cash only" enterprises. They pay little or no income tax, contribute nothing to social security and use only pre-paid debit cards. Yet they rely heavily on Federal, State and Local social services and health care.
Immigration is indeed the "new" 3rd rail of politics. Which is why the "Federal Remittance Tax" bill will never come to a vote. Yet it is the best option for a situation that has become desperate.
A 25% tax of all dollars leaving the US to Latin America may not stop the flood of illegal immigrants, but the nearly 1 billon dollars it would raise could be used to provide social services, health care and provide state and local governments with the funds to offset the expenses of dealing with the segment of the population that is more prone to crime.
But Congress is deft to the idea.
CP Notes: In fact there is no remittance tax bill. Just a catchy name made up by Cedar Posts. I'm not an economist, the amount of money leaving the country attributable to illegals is just a guess as is the revenue realized from such a tax.
So what are your thoughts?
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