Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, made headlines earlier this month by threatening to “mobilize” against a proposed tax on remittances from the United States to foreign countries. Her comments underscore Mexico’s reliance on money from the U.S., including from illegal aliens, and further highlight that mass migration has become a financial boon to foreign governments at American expense.
Author:
Pawel Styrna
Senior Researcher
President Sheinbaum’s comments came as anti-ICE violence exploded across the country. According to Sheinbaum, “If necessary, we’ll mobilize. We don’t want taxes on remittances from our fellow countrymen.” She also stoked Mexican nationalism by describing Mexican nationals, apparently including illegal aliens, living in the United States as “heroes.” Sheinbaum’s comments were in response to a FAIR-supported proposal included in budget reconciliation legislation to tax remittances at 3.5 percent, which would be paid by foreign nationals who are not U.S. citizens or nationals.
President Sheinbaum’s remarks were not well received. According to Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), responding in a social media post: “America is not the world’s piggy bank. And we don’t take kindly to threats.” Schmitt called for increasing the proposed tax to 15 percent. Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) also called to make the remittance fee “a lot higher.”
In 2021, the U.S. economy lost $200 billion in remittances sent to the rest of the world, up from $150 billion in 2017. Newer data from the Bank of Mexico shows that from January to December 2024, Mexico received a total of $62.5 billion in remittances. Out of all remittances to Mexico, approximately 95 percent of these funds originate in the U.S., where millions of Mexican nationals – both legal immigrants and illegal aliens – reside and work. Data from 2025 so far shows a downward trend from this high, which many have attributed to stronger border security and enforcement measures from the Trump administration. The currently proposed 3.5 percent tax on remittances would recoup, according to an estimate by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, about $26 billion in the next decade.
The $62.5 billion in remittances that Mexico received in 2024 represent approximately 3.5 percent of Mexico’s GDP, and are highly valued by Mexico’s political elite as a source of easy money for the country. Some countries rely even more heavily on remittances, with those funds making up almost 27 percent of GDP for Honduras, roughly 26 percent for Nicaragua, about 24 percent for El Salvador, and nearly 20 percent for Guatemala. President Sheinbaum’s outrage is predictable in this context, with so much of Mexico’s economy dependent on infusions of cash from American wages—often sent by illegal aliens and never taxed.
For at least some Mexican politicians, keeping the flow of cash going is much easier than undertaking economic or political reforms, reducing corruption, cracking down on the cartels, or otherwise ensuring that their citizens do not migrate illegally to the United States. While the Mexican president’s views on remittances and remittance taxes have received a great deal of attention, FAIR will continue to push for commonsense reforms to protect Americans and reasonable discussions on how much money leaves the country every year to support foreign economies.
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