This bill would impose a 10 percent fee on money sent from the United States to recipients outside the country, commonly known as remittance transfers. The fees collected would be deposited into a new Border Enforcement Trust Fund to pay for border security activities including hiring Border Patrol agents, immigration enforcement staff, and constructing or maintaining barriers and detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border. To offset the burden on American citizens, the bill allows U.S. citizens to claim a tax credit for any remittance transfer fees they pay. The legislation establishes penalties of up to $500,000 and 20 years in prison for people who knowingly try to evade the fee, and it allows the government to sanction foreign countries that help people avoid the fee by restricting their access to U.S. foreign aid and visa waiver programs. Treasury would have 90 days to develop a system for remittance transfer providers to submit the collected fees, and Customs and Border Protection would be required to submit annual reports to Congress detailing remittance transfer amounts to each foreign country.
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