KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Republican Women Federated opened their Sept. 11 meeting standing in silence in solemn observance of the events of 18 years ago. “We will never forget!”

The luncheon, at Laujor Estate Winery, Kelseyville, was attended by many new members and guests.

Hosted at the luncheon was Cody Meltzer, winner of the club's recent Americanism Essay Contest for Lake County 11th graders. Meltzer lives in Clearlake Oaks and attends Konocti Education Center in Clearlake.

All attending received a copy of his Award Winning Essay, “In my opinion, what it means to be an a American Patriot.”

His 600-word essay demonstrated his understanding of our country in so many ways – “Being an American patriot is not focusing on the good of our nation; it is focusing on the problems, and demonstrating enough care to want to fix them. Focusing on how many rights we American citizens have does not progress the nation; in fact, it excuses our room for improvement.”

Project Chair Teresa Jackson, on behalf of Lake County Republican Women Federated, presented Meltzer with his award check of $100.

The group was pleased to also have as its guest Meltzer’s mother, Mary Anne Meltzer, to witness the presentation.

The meeting topic, “The United States loses $150 billion annually in remittances,” caused all to listen closely, as Joyce Mucci, regional field representative, Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, spoke.

After 40 years, FAIR remains the leader in the fight to end illegal immigration, secure America's borders and reduce overall immigration levels. FAIR evaluates policies and seeks solutions to reduce negative impact of uncontrolled immigration on the nation’s security, economy, jobs, education, healthcare and environment.

With Mucci's focus on “remittances payments,” we learned that a remittance payment is actually money earned in the U.S. by U.S. citizens, lawfully-present aliens or illegal aliens. Such money becomes a remittance payment when any of the people named transfer money to relatives, friends or business associates who still live abroad.

This money, approximately $150 billion a year, has been earned in our country but the money is not spent on goods or services in our country. Therefore, it is not subjected to sales taxes, excise taxes, restaurant taxes, etc.

It is to be noted that neither the majority of states nor the federal government impose a tax on overseas money transfers. (For more information on this, reference was made to “Migration and Remittance Data,” The World Bank.)

Mucci pointed out that the seriousness of the remittance issue is left out of both local and international news. Although we allow remittance transfers without taxation, many countries where the remittances are received tax the incoming transfer.

Why are there so many people who can send money out of our country? The Census Bureau data of 2017 shows the median annual income for a household headed by someone born in the U.S. is roughly $61,987, but households headed by someone born outside the U.S. earn approximately $57,273. A study by the Center for Immigration Studies, 63 percent of non-citizen households access welfare programs, compared to 35% of native households.

Mucci pointed out that means immigrants are more likely to consume public services, but due to lower incomes, pay a smaller share of the costs for those services.

What could be done each year if $150 billion were kept in the U.S. each year? That money could be invested in schools, roads, infrastructure upgrades and other public maintenance projects with large migrant populations.

In closing, Mucci stated, “Although remittances are one of the least discussed aspects of U.S. immigration policy, they create some of the most serious negative effects associated with unchecked mass migration. They siphon off a large chuck of the capital that drives U.S. businesses and that generates tax revenue for state/local governments. And there is no evidence that that this money eventually makes its way back to the U.S. economy, either directly or indirectly.

“Therefore, remittance payments act as a huge, hidden tax on Americans. It is time that the U.S. government took steps to protect our economy by imposing a tax on international wire transfers and by prohibiting illegal aliens from sending earnings abroad. For too long, working Americans have been expected to pick up the tab for flawed immigration policies that put the interests of foreign nationals and foreign countries ahead of those of U.S. citizens.”

Mucci also answered numerous questions from the audience.

Leona Butts is vice president and publicity chair for the Lake County Republican Women Federated.