MONTGOMERY — A new international wire transfer fee and other immigration bills were introduced by Alabama lawmakers on the first day of the 2025 legislative session Tuesday.
Multiple immigration-related bills are on Wednesday's agenda for the 1 p.m. Senate County and Municipal Government committee meeting. New State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) mentioned combating illegal immigration as a priority for the Senate in his floor speech on Tuesday.
"We must turn back the flood of illegal immigration that erases our borders, strains our cities, and drains our resources," Gudger said.
Senate Bill 77 by State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) would establish a fee of $7.50 on international electronic wire transfers plus 1.5% of the amount over $500. The fees would be deposited in the Sheriffs' Immigration Enforcement and Detainer Fund in the State Treasury to fund sheriffs for costs and expenses related to enforcing immigration laws and housing violators of immigration laws. Taxpayers would get a tax credit against income taxes in the amount of all international electronic wire transfer fees paid by the customer.
Weaver told 1819 News, “This bill is a result of a trip that several legislators took to the border a few months ago.”
“It is an effort to address the hundreds of thousands of untaxed dollars that are sent out of Alabama annually. People are working for cash that they don’t pay taxes on and they’re wiring it to other countries. This bill is a step toward addressing this problem. This bill would require money transmission businesses to collect a wire transfer fee of $7.50 +1.5% of an amount greater than $500. This bill will create the sheriff’s immigration enforcement and detainer fund and these funds will be used to help sheriffs with expenses related to enforcing immigration laws, and housing violators of immigration law. This bill will also allow taxpayers a tax credit for those fees if they are filing Alabama income tax,” Weaver said.
The measure is endorsed by the America First Policy Institute. According to a memo released by the think tank in January, "Illegal alien and narcotic trafficking networks often exploit wire transfer services to move money abroad, taking advantage of their less stringent oversight compared to banks."
Senate Bill 66 by State Sen. Lance Bell (R-Pell City) would require law enforcement agencies to collect fingerprints and DNA from any illegal alien in the agency's custody and submit the fingerprints and DNA for testing or cataloging.
Senate Bill 53 by State Sen. Wes Kitchens (R-Arab) would create the new crime of concealing an illegal alien and human smuggling.
Senate Bill 55 by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) would invalidate the use of any driver's license that explicitly indicates it was issued to an individual who did not exercise the option of providing proof of lawful presence in the United States when obtaining the license. The bill would also prevent a nonresident from qualifying for an exemption to the Alabama driver's license requirement if the nonresident's license explicitly indicates that it was issued to an individual who did not exercise the option of providing proof of lawful presence in the United States when obtaining the license.
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