During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is moving to stop migrants receiving government assistance from wiring money out of the United States. The proposal targets people drawing public support while sending American dollars to other countries.

Ingraham raised examples of American tax dollars being used to support terrorist organizations overseas. Bessent agreed that such an outcome is unacceptable, placing the issue squarely within the administration’s effort to confront abuses involving federal social benefits.

The move comes as the administration cracks down on federal social benefits abuses in Minnesota. As part of that effort, the Internal Revenue Service is auditing some banks suspected of money laundering.

Bessent has focused particular attention on money sent to Somalia by Minnesota’s Somali community. He has been concerned that some of those funds have ended up with al-Shabaab, a Muslim terror group.

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The transfers are known as remittances, and Bessent suggested they deserve closer scrutiny. His comments centered on how someone receiving public assistance could also have money available to send beyond America’s borders.

Speaking to Fox News, Bessent said the administration intends to determine where the money originated and whether benefit payments should be reduced.

“If you are wiring the money out of the country, one of two things must be true: you’re either getting too much money and your benefits must be cut, or you’re part of this conspiracy. Where did that money come from? We’re gonna find out,” Bessent said during the interview.

The warning presented two possibilities for people receiving assistance while moving money abroad. Bessent said either the recipient is getting more assistance than needed or the recipient is participating in the conspiracy he described.

Bessent also announced a disclosure requirement for customers using money service businesses to send funds outside the country.

“From now on, anyone who wires money out from one of these money service businesses has to check a box saying whether they are on public assistance,” he said.

That box would directly connect the act of sending money abroad with the customer’s public assistance status. The requirement would provide officials with information about whether someone wiring funds is also receiving government benefits.

Bessent then described the administration’s next step, making clear that merely reporting public assistance status is not the end of the effort.

“And if you are on public assistance, we are going to start pushing that you cannot wire money out of the country,” he added.

JUST IN: Sec. Scott Bessent is now moving to BAN anyone that receives government assistance from wiring money out of the country after Somali fraudsters were caught in Minnesota

"If you are wiring out of the country, you're either getting TOO MUCH or you're part of this CONSPIRACY! We're gonna find out!" "Our generosity has been TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF!" "From now on, anyone who wires money out from one of these money service businesses has to check a box saying whether they are on public assistance." "And if you are on public assistance, we are going to start pushing that you cannot wire money out of the country." — QUANTUM GUARD ™️ (@QuantumGuard17) November 11, 2026

The proposed restriction would apply to assistance recipients attempting to transfer money outside the United States. Bessent’s remarks indicate the administration is moving beyond additional scrutiny and toward blocking such transfers altogether.

The action is part of the Minnesota crackdown, which also includes the Internal Revenue Service bank audits. The banks involved are under suspicion of money laundering, while the remittance issue has drawn attention because of concerns about money reaching al-Shabaab.

Ingraham’s comments placed the matter in the broader context of American tax dollars potentially supporting terrorist organizations overseas. Bessent concurred with her assessment that this use of taxpayer money is unacceptable.

The administration’s approach begins with disclosure at money service businesses and proceeds toward a ban for people on public assistance. It also seeks to determine the origin of money being sent abroad and whether the sender’s benefits should be cut.

For years, America’s generosity has been treated as something available for abuse. Bessent’s move represents an overdue attempt to put conditions on government assistance and keep recipients from using public support while wiring dollars to other countries.

The fact that Washington took this long to address the issue is remarkable. Still, the administration is now pursuing tighter scrutiny, benefit consequences, disclosure requirements, and a proposed prohibition on overseas transfers by people receiving public assistance.

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