It was finally revealed by Donald Trump’s campaign how he plans on getting Mexico to pay for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The plan was written out in a two-page memo, titled “Compelling Mexico to Pay for the Wall,” sent to the Washington Post.
In his memo, Trump stated that in order to get the wall paid for he would cut off remittances being sent from the U.S. to Mexico under the USA Patriot Act antiterrorism law. He went on to explain that the block on the remittances would be removed once Mexico made “a one-time payment of $5-10 billion.” Obama replied to Trump and the memo by saying, “Good luck with that.” President Obama also stated that the plan could lead more illegal immigrants to come over looking for job since they will no longer be able to receive money from their family members that are here, “People around the world … don’t expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can’t afford that,” he said.
While the memo outlines difficult legal questions, it also is the first time Trump gives a clear proposal for his plan to finance the border wall project. Trump’s plan to build the wall has been a foundation of his presidential campaign, but the memo fails to state how the presidential candidate plans on forcing the financial institutions and money wire services to stop transferring the money to Mexico. “The president of the United States can’t just tell banks and Western Union to stop sending money to Mexico,” Eric Olsen, the associate director of the Latin American program at the Wilson Center in Washington said. “We have a presidency, not royalty.”
Experts are saying that the blocking of remittances would cause grave damage to the economy in multiple parts of Mexico, especially the poorer and more rural areas, which are the home bases to many drug cartels. “One of the potential risks of cutting off remittances is you drive more people into the illicit economy,” Olsen also said. The lack of money would force the residents to look for other ways to support themselves, and one of the biggest beneficiaries of the remittance hold could be narco-traffickers.
Other experts say these measures could also hurt Americans as Mexico is the third-largest trade partner of the U.S. It is estimated that the trade between the U.S. and Mexico totals about $506 billion a year, according to Census Bureau data. Mexico is also the main trading partner in some states. Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto said Trump’s rhetoric equaled that of dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini. President Peña Nieto has also stated that his country will not be paying for the wall.
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