The president of the CHC, Adriano Espaillat, denounced in a pronouncement that “the proposal is nothing more than a direct attack on immigrant families.”
“To control remittances – aids that support food, shelter and education of their beneficiaries – is discriminatory, economically dangerous and morally indefensible. It goes against American values and feels a dangerous precedent,” said Espaillat, who represents New York and is of Dominican origin.
The initiative would apply a 5 % tax to remittances transferred from the United States to the outside, which would impact countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, because only in these last three countries these shipments represent 30 % of national income, according to ChC.
The Democrats considered the “discriminatory” measure because the Americans will be exempt from the tax, which would affect more than 40 million people, including residents with ‘Green Card’ and other non -immigrant visa carriers.
The CHC pointed out that “the rejection has already been felt”, when the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who already denounced that the tax breached a treaty in force since 1994 to avoid double taxation between the United States and Mexico, which received a record of almost US $ 65 billion in remittances in 2024.
Therefore, the congressmen pointed out that the tax “would seriously damage” the diplomatic and economic relations of the United States, “especially with those nations that depend strongly on remittances to sustain their economies.”
The entry of family remittances in Guatemala reached the closing of 2024 to US $ 21,512 million and represents around 19% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to data from the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat).
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As of April 2025, income was recorded at US $ 1,984.6 million, and is like the second month with the highest amount in the year, after March exceeded US $ 2 thousand 003 million.
This year the growth of remittance income to the country has been two digits, driven by the uncertainty and fear generated by migratory policies at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second mandate.
In Guatemala, the Monetary Board and the Central Bank decided to adjust the projections of remittance in 2025 from 6% initially estimated to 9%, they were what would be at US $ 23 thousand 466 million, although the country’s economic growth forecasts were adjusted downward.
Regarding the 5% tax that is promoted in the United States, analysts warned that when implemented by a tax to send remittances in the United States, several scenarios could occur, one that the migrant person absorbs said cost but that he reduces his consumption or must seek a second job, or that reduces the shipment and affects the consumption of their relatives in Guatemala.