Documented reports that the Trump administration is thinking of banning the sending of remittances from the United States to Haiti. The article centers on Johane, a Haitian medical student whose life was transformed by money sent from relatives in New York after she fled gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Those remittances allowed her to continue her education safely and become a doctor serving patients in Haiti. She fears a proposed U.S. ban would cut off that lifeline, leaving her unable to provide medicine and pushing already vulnerable families toward starvation.

One third of Haitian families receive remittances.

On March 2, 2025, DHS wrote in social media: “American dollars should NOT be used to subsidize foreign economies.  Four years of open borders under the Biden Administration allowed 6% of ALL Haitians to enter our country ILLEGALLY. Many of these Haitians sent remittances back to their home country — making up 20% of Haiti’s ENTIRE ECONOMY and taking $6.1 BILLION from America.  We will keep fighting to end this. Under @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem, our top priority is to put the safety and prosperity of the American  people FIRST.”

(More reliable sources cited by Documented say that $2B flowed in 2021 from the U.S. to Haiti in remittances, accounting for 16% of GDP.)

Haiti is part of the American basin of cheap labor. I looked at how ten Latin American and Caribbean countries are economically dependent on their citizens who live outside their countries. (See the list at the end, below). For the most part, the great majority of their expatriate citizens are in the United States. Since 1960, they make up 20 million or 45% of all immigrants today. They include 4 of the top 10 countries of origin of American immigration since 1960. The American Basin has a blended average per capita income of $17,000. 21% of the citizens live outside their country. Remittances back to the Basin counties are equivalent to 8% of GDP.