>> IMMIGRATION IS A DEFINING PART OF U. S. HISTORY AND POLITICS.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE PUSHING A 25% TAX ON THE MONEY THAT IMMIGRANTS SPEND OVERSEAS AND HAITI WOULD BE HIT ESPECIALLY HARD.

THAT COUNTRY IS GRAPPLING WITH CRISES FROM NATURAL DISASTERS, GANG WARFARE, AND A FULL-BLOWN HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY AND RELIES ON REMITTANCES FROM THE U. S. , AFTER THE GUTTING OF USAID.

HE HAS BEEN COVERING THIS ISSUE AND JOINS TO EXPLAIN THE DEVASTATING IMPACT.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US, YOU ARE THE BETTER IN CHIEF THAT -- EDITOR-IN- CHIEF THAT FOCUSES ON NEW YORK CITY, TELL ME ABOUT HOW THESE RESTRICTIONS GOT ON YOUR RADAR AND WHY THEY ARE SO IMPORTANT?

>> WE COVER DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, WE WRITE IN ENGLISH, WE DO CHINESE, SPANISH, AND HAITIAN CREOLE.

WHAT MAKES OUR JOURNALISM A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY , WE SOURCE OUR STORIES FROM THE COMMUNITY, THEY SET UP QUESTIONS AND THERE ARE SEVERAL PLATFORMS FOR THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY.

WE STARTED GETTING QUESTIONS, RIGHT, ABOUT WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN.

IT IS A HUGE FLOW OF INCOME TO COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.

$900 BILLION GLOBALLY SPENT.

THE UNITED STATES IS THE BIGGEST SENDER OF REMITTANCES, NEARLY $100 BILLION OF THOSE REMITTANCES COME FROM THE UNITED STATES IN NEW YORK CITY IS ACTUALLY 10% OF THAT.

THESE REMITTANCES ARE A HUGE LIFELINE FOR THESE COMMUNITIES.

PEOPLE COME HERE IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY TO SEND TO THEIR FAMILIES BACK HOME.

WHEN THE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED A 1% TAX ON REMITTANCES.

>> Reporter: BREAK THAT DOWN, WHAT CHANGED, AND WHEN?

>> REMITTANCES ARE TYPICALLY NOT TAXED, THEY ARE A BIG SOURCE OF GDP, AND THEY ARE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS, BUT, IMMIGRANTS ACTUALLY PAY TAXES, RIGHT?

TO SEND MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION OR SIMILAR SERVICES.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE, NEARLY THREE QUARTERS OF REMITTANCES SENT LEAD YOU TO UNDERSTAND THEY ARE TYPICALLY IMMIGRANTS.

SOMETIMES, OR MOST OF THE TIME, THEY ARE UN-BANKED.

TAKE NEW YORK CITY AS AN EXAMPLE, THE $10 BILLION THAT GETS SENT, $500 BILLION WAS PAID JUST IN THESE.

AN EXTRA 1% TAX, EVEN THOUGH THAT SEEMS LITTLE IS NEARLY $100 MILLION, RIGHT?

IF AN IMMIGRANT IS SENDING $100 TO THEIR FAMILY OR $200, IT IS LITERALLY WEEK FOR WEEK, THAT TAX THAT YOU PUT ON THE REMITTANCE WILL SEVERELY IMPACT IMMIGRANT FAMILIES.

>> Reporter: THERE HAS BEEN A SEPARATE DEVELOPING PUSH TO THIS TRANSFER SPECIFICALLY TO HAITI.

THERE WAS A POST MARCH 2nd THAT SAID, AMERICAN DOLLAR SHOULD NOT BE USED TO SUBSIDIZE FOREIGN ECONOMIES CLAIMING THAT HAITIANS WERE, QUOTE, TAKING $6.

1 BILLION FROM AMERICA, AND PLEDGING TO KEEP FIGHTING TO END THIS.

WHAT WAS THE REACTION FROM THE HAITIAN COMMUNITIES THAT READ YOUR PUBLICATIONS AND ASK YOU QUESTIONS?

>> YEAH.

WE PUBLISHED IN HAITIAN CREOLE, WE HAVE A TIKTOK CHANNEL, AND THE SAD THING ABOUT THIS, HAITI IS NOT EVEN ONE OF THE TOP 10 COUNTRIES THAT GET REMITTANCES.

MEXICO GOT MORE THAN $50 BILLION LAST YEAR.

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, HAITI GETS AROUND $3 BILLION-$5 MILLION.

REMITTANCES HAVE INCREASED, IN 2025 THERE WAS A 25% INCREASE IN REMITTANCES SENT FROM THE U. S. TO HAITI.

THAT IS BECAUSE OF THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN HAITI , IT IS SO DIFFICULT.

HAITI HAS, UNDER THE LAST 15 YEARS, CRISIS AFTER CRISIS, IT WAS IT IN 2010 WITH A HUGE EARTHQUAKE, DISPLACED 1.

5 MILLION PEOPLE, THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY A CHOLERA OUTBREAK TRACED TO U. N. PEACEKEEPERS, THEY HAVE HAD HURRICANES, THEIR PRESIDENT WAS ASSASSINATED A FEW YEARS AGO.

ALL OF THAT CONTRIBUTES TO NEARLY HALF OF PEOPLE LIVING IN HAITI ARE UNDER SEVERE RISK OF STARVATION, THEY NEED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

AND OF THE REMAINING 6 MILLION, 3 MILLION ARE CHILDREN.

THE SITUATION IS DIRE.

REMITTANCES CONSTITUTE NEARLY ONE-FIFTH OF THE COUNTRY'S GDP.

ABOUT 70% ACTUALLY COMES FROM THE UNITED STATES.

HAITIANS IN THE UNITED STATES SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES BACK HOME FROM STARVATION AND WE HAVE HEARD THAT FROM OUR HAITIAN MEMBERS.

IT IS NOT ABOUT, I AM SENDING MONEY, I AM SENDING MONEY SO THAT MY FAMILY DOES NOT STARVE.

COUPLED WITH THE FACT THAT THE U. S. ADMINISTRATION HAS CUT OFF AID, AS OF 2025 THERE IS NO MORE USAID GOING TO HAITI.

THIS KIND OF ADDS TO THE LAYERS OF THE TROUBLES THAT HAITI HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH.

COMPLETELY, NOT JUST A 1% TAX, BUT TO BAN REMITTANCES WOULD LEAD TO THE STARVATION AND DEATH OF MANY, MANY HAITIANS.

>> Reporter: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE ARGUMENT THAT SAYS, LOOK, THE $6 BILLION IS LEAVING THE U. S. ECONOMY.

IT IS GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE MISSING ABOUT THAT?

>> THE UNITED STATES HAS TYPICALLY NEVER TAXED REMITTANCES BECAUSE IT IS PART OF THE UNITED STATES POLICY TO LET COUNTRIES FLURRIES BUT YOU WANT THE GDP TO GROW, YOU WANT ECONOMIES TO GROW.

THE ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO DECREASE ADMINISTRATION.

ONE OF THE WAYS WE DO THAT IS MAKING SURE THE PEOPLE IN THOSE COUNTRIES HAVE LESS REASON TO LEAVE, RIGHT?

IF THEY ARE GETTING RE- MEDICINES, --REMITTANCES, THEY ARE ALLOWED TO STAY IN THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY ARE GETTING REMITTANCES FROM THEIR FAMILIES BACK HOME.

SO, GLOBALLY, ACROSS THE WORLD, ABOUT $900 BILLION, IT LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO INVEST IN THEIR HOMES, AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND TO BUILD THEIR COUNTRY.

WHAT IS MISSING FROM THIS ARGUMENT, THIS IS IMMIGRANT HARD-EARNED MONEY, THERE IS OFTEN RHETORIC OF IMMIGRANTS SOMEHOW NOT WORKING FOR THIS MONEY, THAT THEY ARE SOMEHOW NOT DESERVING OF IT.

THIS MONEY IS EARNED BY WORKING, MOST OFTEN LEGALLY, IN INDUSTRIES THAT WE NEED.

THEY SEND SOME OF THEIR MONEY BACK HOME TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES.

THEY ALSO SPEND SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN OHIO, THIS COMES UP A LOT IN THE MEDIA , A CITY THAT WAS LESS THAN 60,000 PEOPLE HAD SUFFERED FOR FIVE DECADES WITHOUT ACTUAL GROWTH.

AND WHEN AN INFLUX OF JUST OVER 10,000 HAITIANS, IT LITERALLY LIFTED UP THE ENTIRE ECONOMY, RIGHT?

THEY FILLED JOBS.

IN SOME CASES , FOR YEARS HAD NOT BEEN FILLED.

THEY BOUGHT HOMES, THEY LIFTED UP THE ENTIRE ECONOMY, RIGHT ?

THIS GOES BACK TO IMMIGRATION BEEN GOOD FOR THE U. S. ECONOMY.

AGAIN, THESE REMITTANCES SUPPORT FAMILIES, COUNTRIES, AND IT ACTUALLY BENEFITS THE UNITED STATES BY MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE HERE ARE CONTRIBUTING THEIR MONEY TO BOTH THE U. S. ECONOMY AND PAYING TAXES.

>> Reporter: WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT THAT THE EXISTING RESTRICTIONS , THE 1% TAX, AND POSSIBLY WHAT IS COMING DOWN THE LINE, WHAT WOULD THAT DO TO A HAITIAN FAMILY IN PORT-au-PRINCE, IF THE MONEY DID NOT COME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IN UNITED STATES?

>> THE MAJORITY OF REMITTANCES GOING TO HAITI COME FROM THE UNITED STATES.

PRIMARILY FROM THOSE WHO WORK HERE LEGALLY.

AND WHAT WE HEAR, REMITTANCES SENT TO HAITI STOP FAMILIES FROM STARVING.

A 1% TAX ON ITS OWN IS ALREADY DAMAGED --DEVASTATING ENOUGH, BUT A COMPLETE BAN TO A COUNTRY THAT IS DECIMATED BY POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN INSTABILITY.

WHAT WE HAVE SEEN OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF IS THAT FEAR AND THAT PERCEPTION OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN, THAT COULD CHANGE THEIR LIVES.

EVEN THOUGH IT HAS NOT HAPPENED YET.

BEING AFRAID OF A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT, EVEN IN HAITIAN, IF YOU HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT, IN ORDER TO AVOID THAT 1% TAX, IF I PUT MY INFORMATION ONLINE, I AM AFRAID.

PEOPLE GO FURTHER UNDERGROUND, YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE DOCTOR, THEY DON'T WANT TO SEND KIDS TO SCHOOL.

THEY ARE NOT FREQUENTING BUSINESSES.

WE INTERVIEW PEOPLE IN LITTLE CARIBBEAN IN NEW YORK CITY, IT IS NOT THAT THEY ARE JUST NOT GOING TO WORK, THEY ARE BRINGING BUSINESSES DOWN.

RESTAURANTS ARE DOWN, THE U. S. ECONOMY, THE NEW YORK CITY ECONOMY WILL ACTUALLY BE HEARD.

THERE ARE 350,000 HAITIANS LEGALLY IN THE UNITED STATES, TWO THIRDS ARE WORKING, THEY CONTRIBUTE TAXES.

THEY CONTRIBUTE, YOU KNOW, BUYING HOMES, THEY LIVE HERE.

IT IS NOT JUST THOSE PEOPLE IMPACTED, BUT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN HAITI.

>> Reporter: IS THERE A REASON WHY HAITI SPECIFICALLY SEEM TO HAVE A BULL'S-EYE ON ITS BACK FROM THE ADMINISTRATION?

THINKING BACK, YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE FALSE CLAIMS OF EATING CATS AND DOGS IN SPRINGFIELD, THAT BECAME SORT OF DEEP POLITICAL CONVERSATION IN AMERICA.

YOU ARE LOOKING AT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CHANGE THE TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS.

IT IS TEMPORARY.

THE EARTHQUAKE WAS 15 YEARS AGO .

WE SHOULD BE SENDING PEOPLE BACK TO HAITI?

>> THE SITUATION, IF NOT WORSE, IS DEFINITELY NOT BETTER, THE EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES, GANGS TAKING OVER, THE TPS IS A PROTECTED STATUS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE KIND OF FELL UNDER THAT.

BUT THIS ADMINISTRATION, AND PART OF THE RHETORIC AROUND IMMIGRANTS, AND THE OTHER RING --OTHER RING THAT HAPPENS, ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES, IN ORDER TO KIND OF ADVANCE THE RHETORIC AROUND, THEY EAT STRANGE FOODS, THEY ARE VIOLENT, THEY TAKE AWAY OUR JOBS, IT IS COUNTRIES THAT FIT WITHIN THAT RHETORIC.

THE PENALTIES LEVELED AT HAITIANS, EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY ARE HERE LEGALLY AND PAY TAXES, CUTTING OFF USAID, AND NOW VOWING TO END PROTECTIVE STATUS REALLY DOES HIT A COMMUNITY THAT, AGAIN, CONTRIBUTES IN OTHER WAYS.

MORE --SOME GROUPS ARE WELCOME MORE THAN OTHERS.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED THEY WANT TO INCREASE WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS AS REFUGEES.

HE WANTS TO ALLOW 10,000 FROM SOUTH AFRICAN, SPECIFICALLY WHITE, TO AVOID POLITICAL PERSECUTION.

THAT RAISES THE QUESTION OF WHY SOME GROUPS AND NOT SOME OTHER GROUPS.

AND THE HAITIANS' CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY IS UNDENIABLE.

THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PAYING TAXES.

$1.

5 MILLION, JUST IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> Reporter: I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE REACHED OUT TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT.

HOW DID THEY EXPLAIN ON ONE HAND WANTING PEOPLE TO HIMSELF THE PORT AND THE ON THE OTHER HAND HAVING A DO NOT TRAVEL WARNING.

THERE ARE STILL GANGS THAT CONTROL PORT-au-PRINCE, IT IS NOT IT'S A PLACE TO GO.

>> IT IS DIFFICULT TO GET COMMENTED WHEN THEY DO, THEY KIND OF POINT TO STATISTICS .

IN CONTEXT, YES, IT DOES SEEM THAT THERE ARE NUMBERS THAT HAVE GONE DOWN AGAIN, TO YOUR POINT, THE FACT THAT PATIENTS DO NOT VISIT.

THE U. N. ITSELF, TALKING ABOUT HOW MANY HAVE BEEN DISPLACED IN THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF .

THE NUMBERS CLEARLY POINT TO A HUMANITARIAN SITUATION BUT THE NUMBERS THAT I JUST QUOTED ON STARVATION AND CHILDREN NEEDING HELP, THE SITUATION IS STILL AS HORRIBLE AS IT IS.

AND IT WAS DESIGNED FOR A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE.

EVEN THOUGH NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET, YOU COULD WAKE UP TOMORROW AND THIS HAS TAKEN PLACE.

BUT AGAIN, THE IMPACT ON HAITIANS, IT LEADS THEM TO SOLVE THE PORT, WE HAVE TALKED TO SO MANY OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, HAITIANS, AND IMMIGRANTS FROM OTHER CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES, THIS LOOMING LIMBO, AT ANY MOMENT, THE BACK-AND-FORTH CEASE-FIRE, IT HAS CAUSED SO MANY TO SAY WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE OURSELVES.

THERE ARE OTHER IMPACTS OF PROPOSED POLICIES THAT ACTUALLY HAPPEN.

>> Reporter: WHEN WE THINK OF REMITTING MONEY, THERE WAS A LOT OF, WHETHER IT IS THE TAX THE U. S. HAS STARTED, OR EVEN, IF YOU WALK UP TO A WESTERN UNION WITH A $100 BILL.

A $100 BILL IS NOT WHAT IS GOING TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE.

WESTERN UNION IS GOING TO TAKE A CUT AS WELL.

>> THESE ARE FEES THAT ARE PAID.

ONE OF THE REASONS I CAN CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT THE 1% TAX SPECIFICALLY FOCUSES ON KIND OF LOWER-WAGE, SPECIFICALLY IMMIGRANTS, IT IS ONLY ON PEOPLE WHO ARE SENDING, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY.

THEY DON'T HAVE A U. S. BANK ACCOUNT, CREDIT CARD, THERE IS ALREADY A SIGNIFICANT PORTION BEING TAKEN BACK TO 1% CAN BE $100 MILLION.

THE U. S. ADMINISTRATION AGAIN MAKES THE ARGUMENT THAT THIS WILL INCREASE REVENUE COMING IN THE UNITED STATES.

BUT THE TRUTH IS, THERE IS AN ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT FROM EARLY 2016 THAT CLEARLY STATES IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE.

PEOPLE WILL FIND DIFFERENT WAYS OF SENDING MONEY.

THE BENEFITS FAR OUTWEIGH THE COST.

>> Reporter: WHAT DOES THE HAITIAN COMMUNITY PLAN TO DO?

ARE THERE OPTIONS TO RAISE THIS IN CONGRESS, IS IT HAPPENING ON THE GROUND .

>> WE TALKED TO A LOT OF ADVOCACY GROUPS THAT WORK WITH THEM.

THEY WORK A LOT OF EDUCATION THAT I THINK THAT IT'S REALLY CRUCIAL THING FOR A LOT OF IMMIGRANTS.

THEY DO NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE, RIGHT?

THAT IS WHY WE PUBLISHED IN THE LANGUAGES, SO IMMIGRANTS CAN DIRECTLY COMMUNICATE THAT WE HAVE SEEN A HUGE UPTICK IN QUESTIONS BEING SENT TO US, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

IT HAS KIND OF THROWN SO MANY PEOPLE'S LIVES INTO CHAOS.

WE ALSO PUBLISH GUIDES THAT HELP PEOPLE NAVIGATE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS FOR THEM.

BUT AGAIN, THE HAITIAN COMMUNITY , THE FEAR THAT I MENTIONED, THAT HAS BEEN DRIVING SO MANY PEOPLE ON THE GROUND, REALLY A LOT OF WHAT WE DO IS EDUCATION, INFORMING.

LIKE I SAID, WE HAVE SEEN PEOPLE TAKE EXTREME ACTIONS, LEAVING THEMSELVES.

FINDING SOME WAY ELSE, THEY STILL WANT TO SEND THE MONEY.

THEY OFTEN FALL PREY TO SCAMS.

IT HAS GONE UP SIGNIFICANTLY IN NEW YORK CITY, NOT JUST IMMIGRATION SCAMS, BUT ALL KINDS OF BAD ACTORS WHO WERE TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT FEAR AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM.

AND IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT THE ADMINISTRATION SPECIFICALLY HAS CHOSEN SOME OF THE MOST HARD-HIT COUNTRIES TO MAKE SOME KIND OF AN EXAMPLE OF WHY, YOU KNOW, DEPORTATION.

BECAUSE AGAIN, THESE ARE PEOPLE'S REAL LIVES BEING IMPACTED , DAY BY DAY, WHO ARE TERRIFIED FOR THEIR FAMILIES, AND MORE THAN THEY ARE FOR THEMSELVES, AND I WILL HAVE LESS MONEY, HOW I MAKE SURE MY ELDERLY PARENTS BACK HOME DON'T DIE.

>> Reporter: EDITOR IN CHIEF, ETHAR EL-KATATNEY.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.