Mexican Migrants Sent Record $36B In Remittances In 2019

Instability in Mexico and Latin America drove a wave of migrant workers to send a record amount of remittances to their home countries in 2019. Mexico’s Central Bank reported that Mexican migrants working overseas sent home a record-high $36 billion in remittances in 2019, a 7 percent increase from 2018.

According to a study from the Inter-American Dialogue, between 2016 and 2017, remittances to Mexico increased by 12 percent, a sharp rise from previous years.

States with the largest population of Mexican-born immigrants rank highest in remittance transfers. The states with the highest transfers include California ($8.84 billion), Texas ($4.3 billion), Illinois ($1.4 billion), New York ($1.8 billion), Florida ($1.15 billion), and Georgia ($1.0 billion). California accounted for nearly 29 percent of the total remittances to Mexico from 2014 to 2017. During this same time period, the percentage of the Mexican-born population in the U.S. dropped slightly by 1.3 percent while remittances spiked to nearly 8 percent.

Beginning in the late 1980s, Mexico transitioned from a closed economy to a market-oriented economy. Mexico further accelerated its market-based economy by entering into the NAFTA agreement in 1994 and exports became a major source of revenue. Still, Mexico is highly dependent on the United States for exports and remittances. Remittances replaced oil exports as Mexico’s largest source of foreign exchange, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Florida beach toll booth worker killed after driver rams structure before getting stuck in sand, sheriff says

Jared Kushner’s overseas luxury resort project faces anti-corruption investigation amid violent protests

Senate Democrats offer little support as Platner faces new sexting controversy: ‘Staying out of it’

Texas teens accused of using dating apps to lure young men into violent robberies that left one victim shot

Meet the Left’s Merchant of Hate

The Truth About Genocide in America: What North American Indians Were Doing to Each Other When Europeans Arrived

Trump administration names Rosario ‘Pete’ Vasquez to serve as next US Border Patrol chief

America Will Turn 250 in July as a Deeply Divided Country, But Our Spirit Remains Unbroken

Louisiana Passes Key Bill Letting Churches Protect Themselves from Leftist Protesters

The next frontier: Washington grapples with its latest space oddity

Soros-backed nonprofit accuses NJ Gov Sherrill of spreading ‘MAGA propaganda’ on ICE detainees

Taxpayer-funded ‘Meth Mansion’ under fire as crime concerns mount around homeless campus

Israeli soldier killed near Beaufort Castle, symbol of past occupation of Lebanon, as Trump demands ceasefire

Judge unseals DOJ fight with Fulton County over 2020 election worker information

Priceless Video: Living Wall of Riot Cops Opens, Pulls in Unsuspecting Anti-ICE Punk, Closes Like He Was Never There

From foreign tourism, Mexico receives about $25 billion while only $22.4 billion in annual petroleum exports.

Mexico’s poverty rate remains high despite its openness to the international economic system. The poverty rate stands at 41.9 percent as of 2018 according to the International Monetary Fund. People working in the subsistence farming or informal sector of the economy are among Mexico’s poorest citizens and are especially reliant on remittances from the U.S. to pay for basic essential needs.

Remittance flows could remain high with Mexico’s economy projected to remain sluggish. The International Monetary Fund predicts meager economic growth for Mexico at 1 percent in 2020. Mexico’s 2019 third-quarter growth remained stagnant as well.

The rise in remittances from the United States to Mexico is happening alongside an overall downside trajectory in immigration from Mexican migrants to the U.S.

Across the wider Latin America region, remittances grew by 4.7 percent in 2019, according to a study published by Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue.