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.

Trump thanked Florida police for Epstein probe in 2000s, flagged ‘evil’ Ghislaine Maxwell: FBI doc

Progressive backed by Sanders, AOC pulls off upset ballot box shocker in Democratic congressional primary

US Skier Lindsey Vonn Reveals Extent of Her Injuries After Brutal Crash Ends Her Olympics — And Possibly Career

Who Would Have Guessed? Transit Agency in Cold-Weather State Buys EV Buses, Can’t Use Them in Freezing Cold

Embattled labor secretary has history of questionable spending that eluded Congress

Two snowmobilers in Wyoming killed in separate accidents

What to know about Tuesday’s House hearing on foreign influence in American nonprofits: ‘Follow the money’

Hawley targets Minnesota fraud, CCP-linked money at Senate hearing: ‘Taxpayers robbed blind’

Final Deadline Passes: Sheriff’s Department Chasing ‘New Leads’ in Nancy Guthrie Case

Brown University shooting victim ‘froze’ when detectives showed her image of suspect, police report shows

‘Only Trump-endorsed candidate’: Burt Jones flexes MAGA muscle after Georgia gubernatorial shake-up

How many Russians and Ukrainians have died in the Russia-Ukraine War?

Far-left nonprofits in the hot seat as lawmaker exposes them for ‘sowing chaos’ in US

Could Trump’s intervention bring an end to the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis?

Turning Point Action endorses Ken Paxton in Texas Senate race

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.