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.

The Sting: How a DEA Supervisor Was Caught Getting Non-Americans Into the Country as Fake Law Enforcement Assets, According to Court Docs

Nancy Guthrie disappearance fuels rise of ‘mom detectives’ swapping tips and losing sleep

Colombian nationals allegedly ran fake law firm, impersonated federal judges to defraud migrants out of $100K

Mamdani promotes NYC where ‘every family can afford a home,’ rips ICE’s ‘cruelty’ amid budget blowback

Trump reveals his ‘new hero’ Supreme Court justice after tariffs ruling

Trump raises global tariff to 15%

Trump torches ‘stupid’ AOC’s Munich showing, tees up fresh fight with progressive Democrats

Labor Dept deploys ‘strike team’ to California over $21B unemployment debt, fraud concerns

Mamdani Changes Mind on Homeless Policy After Multiple People Die

Trump approves DC emergency declaration over Potomac sewage spill, FEMA mobilizes

Pope Leo Lets Trump Know Whether He Will Join ‘Board of Peace’

CBS News Covers Fire at Renee Good Memorial After Ignoring Left’s Defacing of Charlie Kirk Tributes

Too Little, Too Late? NBA Aims to Address One of the Biggest Problems in the League

Family of Ohio teacher ‘clinging to faith’ after ex-‘American Idol’ contestant husband charged with her murder

England: University of Miami Hospital a Cautionary Tale of Healthcare Waste and Abuse

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.