U.S Sen. Bernie Moreno bill would ban welfare recipients from sending money abroad

U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, recently introduced the Stopping Transfers of Public Funds Abroad Act to protect American taxpayers by penalizing welfare recipients who send money abroad.

Federal investigators claimed that approximately $136 million in bulk cash was tracked as it left John Glenn Columbus International Airport, with the money eventually ending up in foreign countries.

“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 said in a press release. “If an individual has enough cash to send money overseas, they have no business taking welfare benefits from hardworking Americans. The abuse ends now.”

Moreno decided to introduce the bill to combat the Somali fraud happening in Minnesota and Ohio, adding that “fraudsters and criminals are abusing the system to send MILLIONS in taxpayer dollars abroad while working Americans pay the price.”

The act would require people who want to conduct international wire transfers certify that they do not receive welfare. If a person fails to disclose this information, they would receive a $100,000 fine.

“Criminal fraudsters are ripping American taxpayers off, siphoning millions in taxpayer dollars and sending it overseas. We’ve had enough; it’s time for Congress to get serious,” Moreno said in a post on X. “End remittances for welfare recipients and STOP THE FRAUD!”

Criminal fraudsters are ripping American taxpayers off, siphoning millions in taxpayer dollars and sending it overseas. We’ve had enough, it’s time for Congress to get serious.

End remittances for welfare recipients and STOP THE FRAUD! https://t.co/06rqzMR4aX

— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) January 30, 2026

In an opinion piece on Fox News, titled “Mass immigration is economic warfare, and few Americans understand why,” Ammon Blair, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, wrote that “no single remittance transfer is hostile.”

“No individual immigrant constitutes an act of aggression. Many immigrants are seeking better lives for themselves and their families, and remittances often provide support to vulnerable communities abroad.”

Blair cited World Bank and Federal Reserve analyses of IMF balance-of-payments data to explain that the United States is the world’s largest source of outbound remittances, with annual outflows of $80 to $90 billion.

He also said that several countries, such as Somalia, derive a significant share of their national income from remittances, with remittances accounting for approximately 25% of GDP in 2024.

“We’re at the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of millions in cash were openly shipped overseas through our airports. As Homeland Security Chair, I’m launching an investigation because Americans deserve to know where this money went,” Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, said in a post to X. “The Somalis were so good at it that they were sending hundreds of millions of dollars back overseas.”