Sponsors (3)
The bill prioritizes keeping limited means-tested benefit funds in the U.S. and increasing disclosure/monitoring of remittances, at the cost of blocking support to relatives abroad, creating provider compliance burdens, and risking a shift to informal, less-secure transfer channels.
Low-income people receiving means-tested public assistance would retain more of their limited benefits for domestic use because those funds could not be sent abroad as remittances.
International wire-transfer providers would be required to collect written disclosures about customers' public-assistance status, increasing transparency and giving regulators clearer records for monitoring compliance.
People receiving means-tested benefits would be barred from sending remittances abroad, preventing many low-income Americans (often immigrants) from supporting relatives overseas and harming those dependents' economic and social welfare.
Requiring written verification of benefit status before transfers could delay or deny access to remittance services and impose new administrative burdens on money-transfer providers.
Restricting formal remittance channels for benefit recipients could push people toward informal or unregulated money-movement methods, increasing risks of fraud, loss, and money-laundering exposure.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits recipients of means-tested public assistance from sending outbound international wire transfers and requires providers to collect a written notice of benefit receipt before service.
Official title: To prohibit international wire transfers by public assistance recipients, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 15, 2026 by Randy Feenstra · Last progress January 15, 2026
Prohibits people who receive means-tested public assistance from sending money from the United States to recipients or entities outside the United States by international wire transfer. It also requires international wire transfer providers to ask potential customers, in writing before providing service, whether they receive public assistance and to refuse service if the customer is a public-assistance recipient. "Public assistance" is defined as any payment or benefit from a means-tested welfare or public assistance program.