The Power Courier
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🇺🇸💸 Invisible Payments, Visible Power Shifts 💥🌎

🇺🇸💸 Invisible Payments, Visible Power Shifts 💥🌎

Tariffs, security challenges, and infrastructure investments—how shifting policies are reshaping trade, labor, and economic opportunities.

Marco Lopez
May 26, 2025

In partnership with

What’s New This Week

Good morning, this Memorial Day, we reflect on sacrifice—but we also examine what it means to protect and honor that sacrifice in a changing world. From the geopolitical battle over critical minerals to the billions in Social Security contributions left unclaimed by immigrants, and a proposed double tax on remittances threatening border families, this week’s edition connects remembrance with responsibility. And in Quick Courier, we spotlight Trump’s revived war on Medicaid—and Mexico’s sharp response to a controversial U.S. tax plan.

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Inside Special Sections

Trade Winds: Securing Our Critical Future — How cobalt and cross-border cooperation are reshaping America’s national security and economic independence.
Power Move: Unclaimed Billions — The system immigrants pay into but are locked out of, and what it says about America’s integrity.
The Border Buzz: Taxing Generosity — A proposed 3.5% remittance tax threatens binational families and reveals just how little Washington understands the border.

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The Quick Courier

Trump Celebrates Medicaid Cuts
Trump praises a “big, beautiful bill” that slashes Medicaid, exposing once again how his policies target working-class families while rewarding the wealthy.

Mexico Slams U.S. Remittance Tax
President Sheinbaum denounces the proposed 3.5% U.S. remittance tax as unjust and discriminatory, vowing diplomatic action to protect millions of Mexican families who rely on cross-border support.

Musk Marginalized in Trump World
Once a key figure in Trump's inner circle, Elon Musk's influence has waned as his controversial policies and declining public approval make him a political liability.

Trump Threatens Apple Tariffs
Trump warns Apple of a 25% tariff on iPhones not made in the U.S., pressuring the tech giant to shift production domestically and raising stakes in global trade tensions.

Immigrants Fund, But Don’t Benefit
Immigrants contribute billions to Social Security every year—yet many are locked out of the benefits they help sustain, revealing a system built on invisible labor and denied dignity.

Cartel Boss With $1M Bounty Killed
A fugitive Mexican cartel leader wanted by the U.S. was shot dead, spotlighting the escalating violence and cross-border pressure to dismantle organized crime networks.

Trade Winds

Securing Our Critical Future: The Geopolitics of Cobalt, Mexico, and America’s Supply Chain Defense

Cobalt: Critical Mineral

On Memorial Day, we pause to honor the men and women who gave their lives to protect our freedoms. But remembrance also demands foresight. We owe it to those who served—and to future generations—to secure our nation against evolving threats. In today’s world, the battlefield is no longer just land, air, or sea. It’s economic. It’s technological. And increasingly, it’s mineral.

At the heart of this emerging contest lies cobalt—a mineral essential for everything from electric vehicles and aerospace to energy storage and national defense systems. For too long, the U.S. has been vulnerable to a supply chain dominated by geopolitical rivals, especially China, which controls over 70% of global cobalt refining capacity. That’s not just an economic risk. It’s a national security liability.

This is where smart policy must align with strategic investment. One promising example is the development of the first solar-powered cobalt processing facility in the United States, now underway in Yuma, Arizona. Led by EVelution Energy and supported by international partners like Mitsui & Co., the facility will process cobalt sourced from allied nations—helping the U.S. reduce reliance on geopolitical rivals and meet up to 40% of its projected domestic demand by 2027.

But here’s the key: this isn’t just an American project. It’s a North American solution. We’re leveraging partnerships with Mexico to build a cross-border supply chain rooted in shared values, trust, and proximity. Mexico’s emerging role in critical minerals—and its integration into U.S. and Canadian production ecosystems—gives North America a generational opportunity to lead in the green economy and the defense economy.

The stakes could not be higher. As the world races to transition to cleaner energy and digital infrastructure, the countries that control key inputs like cobalt, lithium, and rare earths will shape the future of commerce, communications, and conflict. That’s why the Trump Administration and even some former officials under previous administrations have emphasized critical mineral independence as a cornerstone of economic security.

I believe foreign investment should align with America’s long-term interests. Through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, my firm, Intermestic Capital is channeling international capital into projects that create American jobs and reduce strategic risk. This isn’t just about immigration. It’s about transformational investment—capital that strengthens supply chains, fortifies alliances, and drives regional development.

This Memorial Day, as we reflect on the cost of freedom, let’s also reflect on how we defend it in the years to come. Not just with armed forces, but with economic resilience. Not just with remembrance, but with responsibility.

Securing our critical future starts now—from Yuma to Mexico City, from cobalt to clean energy, from investment to impact.

Power Move

Unclaimed Billions and the Price of Exclusion

Immigrants Pay into Social Security and Never Benefit

Today, we reflect on sacrifice, service, and the American values we hold dear. Among them: fairness, hard work, and economic dignity. But those values are being tested—quietly—by a system that takes billions from immigrants while giving little or nothing in return.

Each year, immigrants—many undocumented—contribute an estimated $13 billion in payroll taxes to the U.S. Social Security system. Only about $1 billion is ever claimed back. The rest—$12 billion annually—vanishes into the Earnings Suspense File, a kind of fiscal purgatory for unverified payments. That file now holds over $1.3 trillion, much of it tied to immigrants who will never receive retirement, disability, or survivor benefits from the system they support.

This is more than an accounting anomaly. It’s a systemic contradiction.

As someone who’s worked in federal government, in border governance, and now as CEO of Intermestic Partners, I’ve seen firsthand how immigrants sustain the economic foundation of this country. They work in essential industries—healthcare, agriculture, hospitality—keep local economies alive, and help extend the life of Social Security. Yet, when it comes time to retire, many are locked out of the very safety net they helped maintain.

This isn’t just an immigrant issue—it’s a national integrity issue.

We must ask ourselves: Can a system be sustainable if it depends on invisible contributions from people it excludes? And what does it say about us if we accept that?

Solutions are within reach. Immigration reform that offers a path to legal status would bring millions into full participation. Inclusion-oriented financial tools could provide alternatives for those who remain in limbo. And greater transparency in reporting on unclaimed contributions would force a conversation long overdue.

Every dollar paid into Social Security is an act of faith in the system. It’s time for that faith to be honored—with fairness, dignity, and accountability.

Because the price of exclusion is not just economic. It’s moral.

The Border Buzz

Taxing Generosity—The New Threat to Binational Families

Taxing Remittances is Double Taxation

For millions of immigrant families living along the U.S.-Mexico border, sending money home isn’t just tradition—it’s a lifeline. Whether it’s a few hundred dollars a month to aging parents, medical emergencies, or education expenses, remittances are acts of love and responsibility. But now, a proposed federal policy threatens to tax that generosity.

Buried in a recent House proposal is a 3.5% federal excise tax on remittances—money wired from the U.S. to other countries. Supporters say it’s a way to recoup costs related to unauthorized immigration. In reality, it’s a form of double taxation that would punish hardworking individuals already contributing through payroll taxes, sales taxes, and daily economic participation.

Let’s be clear: this would hit Mexican-American and immigrant families the hardest, especially those living in border states like Arizona, Texas, and California, where cross-border ties are part of everyday life. According to the World Bank, remittances from the U.S. to Mexico topped $63 billion in 2023—much of that coming from migrants sending support to families who have no other safety net.

This tax wouldn’t just take money from pockets. It would undermine binational cohesion, penalize lawful earnings, and further isolate families who already exist in legal limbo. Many of these remittance senders are the same individuals we discussed earlier in The Power Move—those paying into Social Security but barred from its benefits. Now they’re being asked to pay again, simply for helping their families survive.

For border communities, this proposal isn’t just misguided—it’s offensive. It disregards the economic and emotional bonds that tie cities like Nogales and Nogales, Sonora together. It fails to recognize that border regions are ecosystems of shared prosperity, not lines on a map.

Remittances are not the problem—they are proof that immigrants do their part and then some. Taxing them for that? It’s not only bad policy. It’s bad faith.

Power Poll

Do you believe the U.S. should create a more streamlined legal pathway for immigrant workers in essential industries like agriculture and manufacturing?

Immigrant workers are vital to the U.S. economy, yet policies remain outdated. Should the U.S. create a clearer legal pathway or tighten restrictions? Vote now!

Join the Conversation

Thanks for reading this edition of my newsletter! I'd love to hear from you. Share your thoughts about what you think are the most critical issues that need to be addressed. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on social media using the hashtag #Intermestic.