Trump has pledged to build a 3,200 km long wall if elected, and wants Mexico to pay between $5 billion to $10 billion to build it, a proposition that Mexico has firmly refused.
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Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and cabinet officials have repeatedly rejected the idea of a border wall, or that Mexico would pay for it.
Mr. Obama also said the plan would hurt the Mexican economy, suggesting that if it were to collapse, more immigrants would come to the USA “because they can’t find jobs back in Mexico”. In a nutshell, if Mexico doesn’t pony up the money, he would cripple its economy by cutting off cash remittances from undocumented Mexicans working in the U.S. (They were responsible for a large share of the almost $24 billion all workers sent to their families in Mexico past year.) He would also impose tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and cancel some visas and raise fees on others.
The threat to cut off the remittance flow from people illegally in the U.S. would not be acted upon if Mexico were to agree to contribute “a one-time payment” of between $5 billion and $10 billion to help pay for the wall, according to the memo.
Although Trump’s plan “is just one more example of something that is not thought through and is primarily put forward for political consumption”, Obama said Sen.
“They would use black markets, they would transfer their funds to third parties in other countries that would than transfer it into Mexico”, Nowrasteh said. The controversial businessman turned Republican frontrunner said that his administration would use a US anti-terrorism law to cut off certain money transfers from the United States to Mexico. In his campaign memo outlining the plan, Trump writes, “It’s an easy decision for Mexico”.
The president said the plan would cause “enormous” damage to the Mexican economy, deriding the plan as “impractical”. “We can’t afford that”, the president said.
Ted Cruz of Texas. Moreover, it would be hard to track how much money illegal immigrants in the USA are sending to their country. Remittances are also Donald Trump’s target in his attack on illegal immigration from Mexico.
Trump launched his campaign last summer by describing immigrants as drug dealers and rapists. “Mexico will immediately protest”, he predicted, but said that the country would likely capitulate in exchange for the billions his expanded Patriot Act would hold hostage.
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While Trump’s proposal will likely never be a reality, the industry built around global remittances is very real.
