Remittances Drain At Least $200 Billion a Year from the U.S. Economy, Finds New Analysis by FAIR

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that as of 2021, at least $200 billion a year flowed out of the U.S. economy in the form of remittances sent to 134 countries around the world. While 2021 is the most recent year for which worldwide data on remittances from the U.S. are available, more recent data on remittances to nations that largely fueled the Biden administration's unprecedented influx of illegal aliens indicate that the total outflow of money from the U.S. has grown significantly since 2021.

More than half of all remittances in 2021 went to just five countries – Mexico, India, Guatemala, the Philippines and China. In some Central American nations, remittances from the U.S. accounted for 20 percent of GDP. Between 2021 and 2025, remittances to Nicaragua – one of the countries benefiting from a special parole program created by the Biden administration – more than quadrupled. Other Central American nations that were at the heart of the surge of illegal immigration saw similar exponential increases in remittances. Such large-scale remittances distort the economies of receiving countries and create an unhealthy reliance on exporting their best workers. Money sent back to these countries is largely used for consumption, rather than investment and development, which perpetuates long-term poverty.

The impact is also damaging to the United States and the interests of the American people.

"The $200 billion-plus a year being sent abroad is money that is not spent in the communities in which it was earned, supporting local businesses and generating revenues for local governments," noted Dale Wilcox, executive director of FAIR. "Moreover, many migrants who send remittances out of the U.S. earn so little that they qualify for public benefits. The result is that American citizens subsidize social services and welfare benefits for aliens, legal and illegal, who send much of what they earn out of the country."

The report also finds that a significant and growing share of the cash being remitted may be winding up in the hands of criminal cartels. An estimated $4.4 billion of the remittances sent to Mexico in 2022 were the proceeds of drug trafficking being returned to their source. These figures likely increased significantly as the border spiraled out of control in the ensuing years, as many of the people arriving here incurred large debts to the cartels that smuggled them here.

"While earning money and assisting relatives abroad is an understandable human impulse, remittances on the current scale inflict significant economic and fiscal damage on the U.S.," Wilcox concluded. "Those remittances do little or nothing to address the systemic push factors that result in millions of able-bodied workers leaving their home countries each year. Under the Trump administration, we have begun to reduce the number of people living and working here illegally, and the recently enacted budget reconciliation bill has imposed a modest one percent tax on remittances leaving the country. But more must be done to prevent to reduce the outflow of money from the U.S. economy, while encouraging healthy economic development in countries that have grown dependent on remittances."

The full issue brief, Remittances Continue to Grow at America's Expense, can be found here.

ABOUT FAIR        

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)