Solutions to root causes of the huge levels of illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States deserve more attention. One cause of people leaving developing countries like Mexico is the outflow of financial resources from illicit activities. Stop this flow of capital, and countries would have the resources to create jobs and opportunity at home and stem the flow of people over our borders.
To do this, we must change our laws, which today make it far too easy for people from other countries to hide their ill-gotten gains here in America.
Illicit Financial Outflows Average Over 5% of GDP, Driven by Underground Economy, Spiked in Wake of NAFTA
Study Recommends Policies Be Implemented to Address Trade Mispricing, Money Laundering, Tax Evasion
MEXICO CITY / WASHINGTON, DC – Crime, corruption and tax evasion cost the Mexican economy US$872 billion between 1970 and 2010 according to a new report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. The illicit financial outflows, which averaged a massive 5.2% of GDP, grew significantly over the 41-year period studied from just US$1 billion in 1970 to US$68.5 billion in 2010.
MEXICO CITY – Representatives from Global Financial Integrity will be holding a briefing on the report for journalists in the Doña Sol Room at the Hilton Mexico City Reforma Hotel in Mexico City on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 11am CST.
New Blog Post Reveals Mexican Economy Lost US$462 billion between 2000 and 2008
WASHINGTON, DC – As drug violence in Mexico spirals out of control, a new blog post published today on the website of the Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development reveals that the Mexican economy is losing over US$50 billion per year in illicit financial outflows. Citing data from GFI’s forthcoming report, Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2000-2009, Global Financial Integrity Economist Karly Curcio states that, between 2000 and 2008, total illicit financial outflows from Mexico totaled US$462 billion.
By Jeremy Haken, December 17, 2010
In August 2010, the bodies of 72 immigrants were discovered in Tamaulipas, a state in northeastern Mexico. While nobody knows the sequence of events that led to this massacre, it is well known that Tamaulipas is at the center of a turf war between two powerful drug cartels, the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Control of territory and trafficking routes is critical as it enables the cartels to expand their criminal operations to include other moneymaking endeavors like fuel bunkering, prostitution, kidnapping, and even software piracy.
