Where the Money Goes: Map, Charts Show Migrant Remittance Payments

A provision in President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" making its way through the United States Congress would place additional taxes on money immigrants want to send back to their home countries.
In 2023, the last full year of data available, over $650 billion was received in remittances by countries worldwide. Roughly a third of that comes from the U.S., with countries with high levels of immigration to American benefitting most from the payments.
Republicans in Congress want to recoup some of the money migrant workers in America are sending home, arguing the money should remain circulating within the U.S. economy. Those opposing the move, and some who have studied remittances for years, argue that a remittance tax could drive up immigration to the U.S. rather than hinder it.
"Undocumented migrants play a huge role in the U.S. economy, not only as they participate in the labor force, and part of this is that they do send money back home, but a large number of them actually do pay taxes," Rubi Bledsoe, a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told Newsweek.
"They also participate in supporting social programs that Americans get access to, without necessarily being able to access them themselves."
Bledsoe argued that if remittances aren't being sent back to family and friends, or if the funds are reduced, then those who depend on them may look to come to the U.S. for work as well.
Remittances from the U.S. to Mexico in 2023 were around $63.3 billion, or about 3.5 percent of Mexico's total GDP. Most of that money makes it way to some of the poorest regions of Mexico, Bledsoe said, which research from the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI) think tank supports.
"For families in low- to middle-income countries who receive remittances from the United States, for instance, remittances are a lifeline that allows people to pay for utilities, services, and everyday expenses that they would otherwise not be able to afford," Ariel G Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at MPI, told Newsweek.
"Remittances can also be turned into investments that benefit not just individual families but also communities through shared projects, like building hospitals, schools, or buying necessary supplies to improve infrastructure."
Among the biggest recipients of all global remittances in 2023 were India ($120 billion), Mexico ($66.2 billion), the Philippines ($39 billion), France ($36.9 billion), China ($29.1 billion), and Pakistan ($26.5 billion), according to the World Bank.
The data from the World Bank covers worldwide payments, meaning not all that money came from the U.S. — though in cases like Mexico, remittances from the U.S. make up the vast bulk of the total. Americans living overseas who send back money home also count in the data. The U.S. received around $7.7 billion in remittances in 2023.
CSIS estimates Mexican workers are sending $300 a month back home in remittances, on average, meaning most of their paycheck is still being spent within the U.S. That means their money is going towards housing, goods and services in their communities, and often state and federal taxes.
There has been a steady rise in the amount of money heading to certain countries in recent years, as migration levels and access to jobs in the U.S. have increased. This has caused concern among some on the right who want to see stricter regulations on remittances.
"It is kind of a double-edged sword," Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) told Newsweek. FAIR advocates for a more restrictionist immigration policy.
"Yes, it does send money back to people in the home countries, but it also becomes a dependency. If you're going to be sending your best workers out of the country to work in another country and then wait for the money to come back, it impedes the development that needs to happen in those countries."
Mehlman said FAIR also has concerns that payments are making their way back to cartels and other organized crime groups, while American companies are getting away with employing those without legal status, enabling a cheaper workforce that is detrimental to U.S. citizens as well as immigrants with work authorization.
While there is widespread agreement that stopping payments to criminal organizations is necessary, both Bledsoe and Ruiz Soto cautioned against introducing tougher rules on remittance payments. They say this could have an adverse effect on illegal immigration, predicting that, should remittances be cut off from low- and medium-income countries, then more people may look to make the journey to the U.S.
"Because the migrant is already here, sending money back, it means that the family of that migrant isn't in the United States," Bledose said. "So it is preventing migration on some level."
Ruiz Soto added that "by filling the void of government investment and development, remittances reduce the economic pressures for many people to emigrate irregularly over the long term."
Mehlman said Congress could act to introduce stricter measures, as it is looking to do with the tax on remittances, while Ruiz Soto said more security measures to track the funds being sent abroad could be introduced in an attempt to root out abuse.
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