Migrants working in the United States send at least $200 billion home every year, including cash to criminal cartels, according to a new analysis of “remittances.”

The money collected by legal and illegal migrants went to 134 nations, but most was directed to Mexico, India, Guatemala, the Philippines, and China.

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While much of the money was likely sent to relatives back home, some was also directed to cartels, said the analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“In some cases, remittances intentionally or unintentionally support cartels, human smugglers, terrorists and organized crime,” said the analysis shared with Secrets. “Approximately $4.4 billion out of the $58.5 billion in total remittances sent to Mexico in 2022 were potentially linked to cartels,” it added.

Those numbers, said the report, are likely higher because the latest data was from 2021, and since then, the Biden administration welcomed in millions of illegal immigrants from Central and South America, China, India, and several nations that host terrorist groups.

For some countries, the take is so high that it helps boost their GDP, said the report.

More than $200 billion leaves the U.S. economy as remittances every year, an amount that continues to increase. The Biden border crisis turbocharged remittances which are mostly untaxed, and new illegal aliens are now sending billions to their home countries every year. Check out…

— Federation for American Immigration Reform (@FAIRImmigration) July 23, 2025

Some in Congress and states have for years tried to limit or tax remittances in part because sometimes payments to illegal immigrants are in cash or not taxed. For the first time, the federal government has moved on that by including a 1% remittance tax in the recently approved One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“The $200 billion-plus a year being sent abroad is money that is not spent in the communities in which it was earned, supporting local businesses and generating revenues for local governments,” said Dale Wilcox, executive director of FAIR.

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“Many migrants who send remittances out of the U.S. earn so little that they qualify for public benefits. The result is that American citizens subsidize social services and welfare benefits for aliens, legal and illegal, who send much of what they earn out of the country,” he added.

The losses to the U.S. due to remittances are unacceptably high and only poised to continue to grow, said the report. “In the meantime, the hemorrhaging of money overseas will continue,” it added.