Gov't urged to engage the Trump administration over remittance concerns

By Halshane Burke    

 

The government is being urged to engage the Trump administration over concerns relating to restrictions on remittances as a means of tackling the issue of undocumented immigrants.

 

Florida Governor Ron Desantis this week announced a plan to require people sending money from the US to present proof of their status to ensure they were in the country legally.

 

The Florida legislature did not support the plan.

 

Despite this, there is unease across the US that there could be more restrictive access to the remitting of funds which will impact Jamaica.

 

Opposition Leader Mark Golding says the Andrew Holness government should attempt to have dialogue with US government officials in an attempt to arrive at a workable solution. 

 

"Anything that would jeopardise the right of our people, our nationals, to send funds home, to support their families, and to invest in Jamaica and do whatever they want to do, would be a major concern for us. And I'd expect our government to use whatever good offices are available to it, through diplomatic and other channels, to try and get President Trump to understand our side of the story and why this would be a very devastating thing for Jamaica, and to ask for him to look elsewhere, you know, in terms of how he deals with it, his domestic problems," Mr. Golding suggested.