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 The Republican presidential candidate's campaign said in a memo
that if elected in November, Trump would use a U.S. anti-terrorism
law to cut off such money transfers unless Mexico made a one-time
payment of $5 billion to $10 billion for the wall.
Trump's pledge to build the wall has been a much-touted highlight of
a platform targeting illegal immigration in the United States that
has helped make him the front-runner to be the Republican nominee
for the Nov. 8 election.
It is unclear how much a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km)
U.S.-Mexico border would cost, and Mexico has been adamant it would
not pay.
The memo elaborated on an idea Trump floated in August, when he
suggested seizing all remittances tied to "illegal wages."
It said that upon taking office a Trump administration would propose
a rule mandating companies such as Western Union Co WU.N to require
customers to prove they were legally in the United States. If Mexico
agreed to fund the wall, Trump would drop the proposed rule, it
said.
 "It’s an easy decision for Mexico," his campaign said, adding the
country receives about $24 billion a year in remittances from
Mexicans in the United States, most of them in the country
illegally.
"It (remittances) serves as de facto welfare for poor families in
Mexico. There is no significant social safety net provided by the
state in Mexico," it said.
According to the World Bank Remittances project, flows from the U.S.
to Mexico in 2014, the last full year for which it has data, were
nearly $24 billion although it is unclear what portion comes from
Mexicans living in the country illegally.
'GOOD LUCK WITH THAT'
Democratic President Barack Obama called the remittance-blocking
idea impractical and possibly self-defeating.
"The notion that we're going to track every Western Union bit of
money that's being sent to Mexico, you know, good luck with that,"
he told reporters. If Mexico's economy collapses, it would just
drive more immigrants to the United States, Obama added.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto appeared to dismiss the
proposal as campaign rhetoric.
"The (Mexican) Presidency has no comment on any opinion made in the
heat of the electoral process to choose candidates for the U.S.
presidency," the president's office said in a text message to
Reuters.
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Any move to target payments sent home by people living in the United
States could have a crushing financial effect in Mexico, the leading
recipient of U.S. remittances.
Trump's proposal could also affect banks and companies that handle
wire transfers, which also include MoneyGram International Inc
<MGI.O> and PayPal Holdings Inc's <PYPL.O> Xoom.
The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
In addition to his wall proposal, Trump has accused Mexico of
sending rapists and drug runners to the United States. Democrats and
many Republicans have repeatedly condemned his comments as
inflammatory, but his remarks have been enthusiastically received by
his supporters, especially by white working-class voters.
In the memo, first reported by The Washington Post, Trump's campaign
repeated its pledge to target visas. It also cited imposing trade
tariffs or enforcing existing trade rules as a way of forcing Mexico
to pay.
Trump supporter Benjamin Proto, a Connecticut lawyer, acknowledged
the remittance plan was unrealistic but praised the candidate for
"looking at different ways to do things."
The memo emerged as Republican candidate Ted Cruz appeared set to
beat Trump in Wisconsin's primary contest on Tuesday, a win he would
hope would mark him as the best alternative to the New York
billionaire.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Jason Lange and
David Chance in Washington; Alexandra Alper and Simon Gardner in
Mexico City and Emily Flitter in New York; Editing by Doina Chiacu
and Frances Kerry)
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