Missouri lawmakers are moving to crack down on international money transfers by illegal immigrants following the massive welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota that has drawn national attention in recent weeks.
The legislation, backed by Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek, would require money transmitters operating in Missouri to verify that individuals sending money overseas are lawfully present in the United States before processing international remittances. The Missouri legislation is part of a broader push by conservative state officials to strengthen safeguards around public spending following high-profile fraud cases uncovered during the pandemic.
The proposal, introduced as HB 2412 and SB 1124 in the Missouri General Assembly, would make Missouri the first state in the nation to require verification of lawful presence before international remittances can be processed.
“The failures in Minnesota offer a lesson to other states,” Malek said in a statement obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire. “We are taking sensible action in Missouri to prevent similar crime from occurring here. American dollars should stay in America.”
The push comes after the massive welfare fraud scheme scandal in Minnesota, which involved Somali-linked fraud networks allegedly siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from federally funded child nutrition programs during the COVID era. The scandal, which has led to dozens of indictments, triggered a wave of scrutiny from lawmakers and watchdog groups who say weak oversight allowed the scheme to flourish for years.
Malek, a member of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), said the Missouri legislation is intended to close potential loopholes that could allow fraudulently obtained taxpayer funds to be moved overseas.
Critics of the proposal argue that the legislation could harm immigrant communities that rely on remittances to support family members abroad. One recent local news report highlighted an illegal immigrant who has lived in the United States for more than a decade and sends roughly half of his income overseas. “I’m here alone fighting for life, to maintain my family over there. I’ve been here for 13 years,” he said anonymously.
Carlos Rich, president of the Rural Community Workers Alliance — an organization which is “a worker-led organization dedicated to empowering, educating, and organizing refugee and immigrant workers,” — predicts that 5,000 immigrants in the area would be affected by this bill.
Supporters of the measure argue that the issue is not legal immigration or legitimate remittances, but preventing taxpayer-funded fraud schemes from funneling money out of the country. The State Financial Officers Foundation recently released a report estimating that Republican state financial officers collectively protected more than $28 billion in taxpayer funds from fraud and waste last year through oversight initiatives and financial reforms.
At the time of the report, Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks and SFOF National Chairman said, “across the country, state financial officers are doing the job taxpayers expect, identifying billions in waste, fraud, and abuse, generating strong investment results, and returning billions in unclaimed property to rightful owners.”
To the critics of the harder approach, Oaks added that it’s “not partisan; it’s fiduciary duty. America’s state financial officers will continue to expose fiscal misconduct and protect the hard-earned dollars of the American people.”
While lawmakers in several states have proposed new oversight measures after the Minnesota scandal, Missouri’s proposal to regulate international remittances would be the first of its kind if enacted.
