Trump's remittance tax hits Mexico's poorest

The families of Mexican migrants to the U.S. are bracing for the financial impact of a proposed 3.5-percent tax on remittances sent by non-U.S. citizens, as President Donald Trump's latest budget proposal moves through Congress.

Mexico is the second-largest recipient of U.S. remittances after India. Remittances of U.S. dollars represent around four percent of the country's GDP.

During the Biden administration, migrants from Hidalgo, a state in central Mexico where migration to the U.S. has long been a lifeline, sent over six billion dollars in remittances back home to help sustain families in this impoverished state.

Now, as Trump seeks a piece of that pie, family members of migrants say they would struggle to adjust.

"It's quite a lot, a lot, because it wouldn't be enough for anything anymore, honestly, not anymore. Things are going up quite a bit, so it wouldn't be enough for anything anymore. If it was half enough before, it's not enough now," said Agustina Godinez, a resident in Epazoyucan.

If the remittances tax, part of Trump's "big beautiful" budget bill, is implemented, Mexico stands to lose over 2.6 billion dollars annually.

The hardest-hit regions will be those most dependent on these funds, as the cost of sending the average 350-dollar remittance would jump significantly from around 5 dollars to 17 dollars.

Adding to the strain, banking data showed remittance volumes to Mexico have already dropped more than 12 percent this year, as migrant workers face harsher conditions in the U.S. under Trump's policies.

"We do have this feeling that if there were raids in a certain place, we say, I'd better go tomorrow or the day after, or whatever. But yes, it's affected us," said Pablo Salazar, a returning migrant.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has condemned the proposed remittance tax, calling it unconstitutional.

As Trump tightens restrictions on migrant workers, his economic policies could end up hurting not just those in the U.S., but their families across the border who rely on every dollar sent home.

Trump's remittance tax hits Mexico's poorest

Trump's remittance tax hits Mexico's poorest

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight