Border Wall Funding Act of 2017

Border Wall Funding Act of 2017

This bill amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require a remittance transfer provider to collect from the sender a remittance fee of 2% of the U.S. dollar amount to be transferred to a recipient in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Aruba, Curacao, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, or Argentina.

Such fees shall be submitted to the Treasury to be expended for improving border security. By September 30, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall provide a system for remittance transfer providers to: (1) submit such fees, and (2) retain a portion of such fees to cover administrative costs.

The bill establishes penalties for individuals who, with intent to evade such fee, request or facilitate an initial transfer of such remittance to a recipient located in a different country. Countries that aid or harbor an individual conspiring to avoid the fee shall be ineligible to receive foreign assistance or participate in the visa waiver program or any other programs at the discretion of the Departments of Homeland Security, Treasury, and State.