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Trump’s remittance tax aims to slow illegal immigration by targeting the money flow

Trump’s remittance tax aims to slow illegal immigration by targeting the money flow

The Senate’s version of the “one big, beautiful bill” includes a tiny, 1% tax on international cash transfers — called a remittance tax — which, according to experts, will have a major impact on immigrants working in the U.S. A remittance is a money transfer to another country outside the U.S., which is a common practice among immigrant workers who send part of their wages back to family in their native countries. Tens of billions of dollars in remittances are sent to other countries from the U.S. every year. Earlier versions of the bill included higher tax rates and specifically targeted illegal immigrants sending money outside the U.S. The current version of the “big, beautiful bill,” however, imposes a 1% fee only on cash transfers, not electronic transfers, sent to other countries. U.S. citizens who want to send cash to other countries will also be subject to the 1% tax. The tax is expected to generate $10 billion in extra revenue for the federal government, according to an estimate done by Politico. TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ CLEARS FINAL HURDLE BEFORE HOUSE-WIDE VOTE Besides generating extra revenue, Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that the remittance tax has the potential to discourage illegal immigration into the U.S. by making it harder to send money back home. “Illegal aliens generally want five things when coming to the U.S.: to enter, to remain here, work, send money home (remittances), and bring family and/or have children here,” she explained. “Prevent those five things, and you prevent illegal immigration and encourage self-deportation.” The administration has been pushing hard for illegal immigrants to self-deport, incentivizing them by offering to front the cost of commercial flights and providing a $1,000 stipend to those who opt to self-deport. Ries said the remittance tax could be another effective strategy besides ICE raids that could help to crack down on illegal immigration into the country and reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. TRUMP TO BEGIN ENFORCING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH, DOJ SAYS Ries said, however, that the 1% needs to be much higher to be effective. “A 1% tax only on cash transfers does very little. The tax should be much higher and cover all types of money transfers,” she said. “Until now, the U.S. government has not touched the annual billions of dollars going out of the country, not benefiting the U.S. economy,” she went on. “Remittances should be taxed to discourage unauthorized employment and its earnings.” ELON MUSK’S ATTACKS ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ HAVE ‘NO BASIS,’ SAYS NO 2 HOUSE REPUBLICAN Meanwhile, Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital that though he believes the remittance tax will have a significant impact, it may not be in the way the Trump administration hopes. He argued that discouraging remittances to countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras — where such payments account for more than 20% of the GDP — could actually drive more migration from those nations. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “If you’re Honduras, if you’re El Salvador and Guatemala, even a 1% tax, if it decreases the remittances, could actually be a significant toll in the development of those countries,” he said. “If the remains were actually to decrease significantly, that could potentially backfire on President Trump’s agenda to reduce irregular migration because he could actually make circumstances, economic circumstances in these countries more difficult and spur new irregular immigration in the future.” The House of Representatives is currently considering the Senate’s version of the “big, beautiful bill.”

Trump turns to Supreme Court in fight to oust Biden-era consumer safety officials

Trump turns to Supreme Court in fight to oust Biden-era consumer safety officials

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking to overturn lower court rulings that blocked the administration from firing three Biden-appointed regulators. The emergency appeal asks the High Court to allow the Trump administration to fire three members of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a five-member independent regulatory board that sets standards and oversees safety for thousands of consumer products. The appeal comes after the Supreme Court, in May, granted a separate emergency appeal request from the Trump administration pertaining to the firing of two Biden-appointed agency officials from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).   “It’s outrageous that we must once again seek Supreme Court intervention because rogue leftist judges in lower courts continue to defy the high court’s clear rulings,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.  SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TERMINATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCY BOARD MEMBERS FOR NOW “The Supreme Court decisively upheld the president’s constitutional authority to fire and remove executive officers exercising his power, yet this ongoing assault by activist judges undermines that victory,” he continued. “President Trump remains committed to fulfilling the American people’s mandate by effectively leading the executive branch, despite these relentless obstructions.” Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. were appointed to serve seven-year terms on the independent government agency by former President Joe Biden. Their positions have historically been protected from retribution, as they can only be terminated for neglect or malfeasance. After Trump attempted to fire the three Democratic regulators, they sued, arguing the president sought to remove them without due cause. Eventually, a federal judge in Maryland agreed with them, and this week an appeals court upheld that ruling.  However, according to the emergency appeal from the Trump administration, submitted to the High Court on Wednesday morning, the three regulators in question have shown “hostility to the President’s agenda” and taken actions that have “thrown the agency into chaos.” OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP ORDER PREVENTING ASYLUM REQUESTS, PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The emergency appeal to the Supreme Court added that “none of this should be possible” after the High Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s decision to fire two executive branch labor relations officials. “None of this should be possible after Wilcox, which squarely controls this case. Like the NLRB and MSPB in Wilcox, the CPSC exercises ‘considerable executive power,’ 145 S. Ct. at 1415—for instance, by issuing rules, adjudicating administrative proceedings, issuing subpoenas, bringing enforcement suits seeking civil penalties, and (with the concurrence of the Attorney General) even prosecuting criminal cases,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. The request, according to Politico, will go to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is in charge of emergency appeals stemming from the appeals court that upheld the previous Maryland court ruling blocking the Trump administration’s firings.

Biden-appointed judge halts Trump HHS overhaul after Democrat-led lawsuit

Biden-appointed judge halts Trump HHS overhaul after Democrat-led lawsuit

A Biden-appointed federal judge on Tuesday stepped in to halt the Trump administration’s efforts to dramatically reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued to stop the reforms.  HHS announced in March it would be laying off around 20,000 full-time agency employees, while also reducing the number of regional offices across the country and consolidating several HHS divisions. A fact sheet from HHS about the cuts said the reforms were aimed at making the agency more efficient, saving money and ensuring Americans’ most critical health needs are adequately met. In response, 19 Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the Trump administration’s reforms. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted a temporary injunction in their favor. ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’: TRUMP ADMIN RELEASES DATA SHOWING FEDERAL WORKFORCE SLASHED SINCE JANUARY DuBose’s ruling Tuesday temporarily blocks the Trump administration from enforcing its proposed workforce reduction or sub-agency restructuring, and HHS was also ordered to file a status report by July 11.  “We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in response to the ruling.  “The reorganization was designed to restore the department around bold, measurable public health goals like reversing the chronic disease epidemic and advancing U.S. leadership in biomedical research. While we strongly disagree with the decision by a Biden-appointed district court judge, HHS remains committed to modernizing a health workforce that for too long prioritized institutional preservation over meaningful public health impact.” RUBIO OFFICIALLY KILLS USAID, REVEALS FUTURE HOME FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Nixon added that HHS is reviewing the decision and considering next steps.  Last month, the Supreme Court limited the use of nationwide injunctions to halt President Donald Trump’s executive actions.  However, the ruling did not shut the door on legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders.  FEDERAL APPEALS COURT THROWS ROADBLOCK AT TRUMP’S EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA In DuBose’s ruling Tuesday, she asked both parties to address how that ruling affects the scope of her order, if at all, by July 11.  “HHS is the backbone of our nation’s public health and social safety net – from cancer screenings and maternal health to early childhood education and domestic violence prevention,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the 19 state attorneys general who sued to stop the Trump administration’s reduction in force at HHS.  “Today’s order guarantees these programs and services will remain accessible and halts the administration’s attempt to sabotage our nation’s healthcare system. My office will continue fighting to stop this unlawful dismantling and defend the essential services that protect our most vulnerable communities.” Since the Trump administration began its restructuring at HHS, some employees who were let go have been brought back.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP During a CBS News interview in April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, in some instances, personnel were cut that should not have been.  “We’re reinstating them. And that was always the plan. Part of the — at DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes,” Kennedy said in April.

Bush teams up with notorious Trump foes to trash ‘colossal mistake’ shuttering USAID

Bush teams up with notorious Trump foes to trash ‘colossal mistake’ shuttering USAID

Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees Monday, while also taking shots at President Donald Trump and his administration for shuttering the agency plagued by accusations of fraud and abuse.  “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees Monday, according to the Associated Press. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.”  Obama summed up the decision to shutter the agency as “a colossal mistake,” and added that “sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.” Bush, Obama and Bono spoke to departing USAID employees Monday in a videoconference as the agency officially was shuttered following the Trump administration’s reporting that it was overrun with alleged corruption and mismanagement. The videoconference did not include members of the media, with the Associated Press reviewing and reporting on clips of the conference later that day. RUBIO OFFICIALLY KILLS USAID, REVEALS FUTURE HOME FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. It was one of the first agencies investigated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in early February for alleged mismanagement and government overspending, with DOGE’s then-leader Elon Musk slamming the agency as “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”  USAID officially was absorbed by the State Department Tuesday.  Bush, who overwhelmingly has shied away from publicly criticizing Trump, lamented in his recorded message to the staffers that the end of USAID marks an end to his administration’s work rolling out an AIDS and HIV program that is credited with saving 25 million people nationwide. FOUR PLEAD GUILTY IN MASSIVE BRIBERY SCHEME AT AGENCY DEMOCRATS FOUGHT TO PROTECT FROM DOGE “You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush told USAID staffers, according to the Associated Press. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”  Bono of U2 fame recited a poem he wrote reflecting on USAID’s closure and his claims that millions around the world will likely now die, according to the Associated Press.  “They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,” Bono said. Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s and Bush’s respective offices Wednesday morning for additional comment, but did not receive responses.  Other longtime Trump foes, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, thanked foreign service officers for their work before USAID’s closure.  “In all my years of service, I found that foreign service officers and development professionals were among the most dedicated public servants I encountered,” Clinton posted to X Tuesday. “Their work saves lives and makes the world safer. Today, and every day, I stand with them.” Obama and Bush overwhelmingly have remained tight-lipped on their views of Trump under his second administration, with both former presidents attending Trump’s inauguration and not weighing in on the majority of Trump’s policies. Obama has taken issue with Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which is clearing its final hurdles to passage and will fund Trump’s agenda on social media, while Bush has consistently shied away from public rebukes of Trump in recent history.  Bono previously has claimed that cuts to USAID would kill hundreds of thousands of people, and had slammed Trump in 2016 as “potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was serving as acting administrator of USAID, announced the State Department absorbed USAID’s foreign assistance programs Tuesday after decades of failing to ensure the programs it funded actually supported America’s interests.  “Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War,” Rubio wrote in his announcement. “Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown.”   RISCH URGES ‘TOP TO BOTTOM’ USAID SPENDING REVIEW AFTER WASTE, FRAUD EXPOSED “This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,” he continued. “Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.” The shuttering comes after DOGE gutted USAID as part of Trump’s effort to remove waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government earlier in 2025.  BONO’S ‘300,000 DEAD’ CLAIM OVER USAID CUTS GETS SMACKED DOWN BY ROGAN, MUSK: ‘LIAR/IDIOT’ Trump repeatedly had touted DOGE’s work uncovering fraud and mismanagement within the federal government, including in his March address before Congress celebrating that DOGE identified $22 billion in government “waste,” including at USAID. “Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,” Trump said as he rattled off various examples of federal waste. “Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.”