GOP lawmaker moves to block welfare recipients from sending money overseas: 'Abuse ends now'

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: A newly introduced Senate bill from Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno would prohibit individuals receiving public assistance from sending money overseas through remittance transfers, a move aimed at ensuring taxpayer-funded benefits are spent inside the United States and not exported abroad. The legislation, titled the "Stopping Transfers of Public Funds Abroad Act," would require anyone applying for or receiving federal public assistance to sign a written declaration stating they will not send money through remittance transfers while receiving benefits. Under the proposal, anyone who violates that declaration would face a civil fine of up to $100,000. The bill directs federal agencies that administer public assistance programs to enforce the restriction during both initial applications and reapplications for benefits. Recipients would be required to certify, under penalty of perjury, that they are not transferring funds via remittance services while receiving aid. BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB "For decades, Washington’s failed welfare program rewarded dependency while enabling fraudsters and criminals to exploit the system to take advantage of American taxpayers," Moreno told Fox News Digital. "If an individual has enough cash to send money overseas, they have no business taking welfare benefits from hardworking Americans. The abuse ends now." Remittances, or money transfers sent by individuals — typically immigrants — in the United States to recipients in foreign countries — typically through banks, wire services, mobile apps, or money service businesses — have drawn increased scrutiny in recent years and further amplified after the Minnesota fraud scandal, primarily in the Somali community, came to light nationally. In many cases, remittances are funded through ordinary wages. However, critics say there is little visibility into whether some transfers are financed with taxpayer-…