Florida is also exploring tightening guidelines for sending remittances.

The U.S. state of Florida also has an initiative to tax remittances, and if it moves forward, it would become the second state in that country to monitor migrants' dollar remittances, warned BBVA's chief economist for Mexico, Carlos Serrano.

The other state that has had a tax on remittances since 2009 is Oklahoma. "Remittances sent from there aren't as intensive, but experience shows that it's not a very effective measure for reducing migrant flows," he noted.

Data from the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (Cemla) shows that 101,443 Mexican immigrants were working in that state in 2023, out of a total of 10,918,205 Mexican immigrants in the United States.

According to Jesús Cervantes, head of the Economic Statistics Department and the Latin American Remittance Forum at Cemla, Oklahoma accounts for 1 in every 100 Mexican immigrants registered in the United States.

Oklahoma accounted for 0.8% of total remittances sent to Mexico in the first quarter of this year, amounting to $112 million, a figure that contrasts with the $4.4 billion sent by California, the largest remittance sender to Mexico.

Information from the World Bank (WB) confirms that a selective tax on remittances in states could redirect flows through third-party entities and warns that the revenue collected will be small relative to the total tax base.

In a 2017 analysis developed by the World Bank based on US President Donald Trump's intention to impose a tax on remittances during his first term, they explained that state taxes of this type can encourage expatriate employees or business owners to relocate to other locations with lower taxes.

For now, there is no clarity on how the federal remittance tax will operate in states like Oklahoma.

The Florida case

According to information from BBVA, Florida is one of the six states in the United States that send the most remittances to Mexico.

Florida accounts for 3.6% of total remittances to the country, approximately $2.208 billion.

In January of this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that he would propose identity verification for remittance transfers, requiring individuals to prove they are legally working in the country before sending remittances.

From Governor DeSantis' perspective, and as documented in local media, he doesn't expect these measures to deter immigrants from coming to the state, but they will be exposed and traceable to immigration authorities.

Remittances arrive from every state of the American Union

California is the main state of origin for this flow of foreign currency, with $20.412 billion in 2024, almost a third of the remittances sent from the United States.

Second place goes to Texas with $9 billion, 14.4% of the total.

But they noted that remittances are sent to Mexico from all 50 states in that country, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Local media reports cite that other states in that nation also intend to tax remittances with taxes ranging from 10% to 50% and include plans to tighten immigration status verification measures at resource-sending points.

Unofficial routes

The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently reported on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) analysis that estimates the real value of remittances may be up to 50% higher than current official figures suggest.