Bills being floated in Congress by a handful of Republicans would impose taxes on remittances – money U.S. residents send abroad, usually to relatives – to pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. The idea is as flawed as Trump’s own ridiculous assertion that Mexico must and will eventually pay for the wall.

Mexico ranks first among nations that receive remittance money, usually by wire transfer, from U.S. residents. In 2015, Mexicans received $24.32 billion in such funds, more than Mexico earned from oil exports. Like almost all U.S. companies, wire transfer services such as Western Union or Moneygram typically do not require proof of legal immigration status before accepting customers’ business.

It’s unknown how much of the remittances come from undocumented migrants, but they are hardly the only residents sending money abroad. Under the Border Wall Funding Act of 2017, a bill proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., remittance senders would have to pay a 2 percent tax, regardless of the sender’s legal status or whether the sender has already paid federal taxes on that income.

Read more at The Boulder Daily Camera.