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 Hitchhiker’s Guide to what the Senate did and didn’t do overnight

One year on, US-brokered peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan cements US foothold in the Caucasus

Joe Biden’s cancer has spread further, leaving him in ‘very painful’ condition, Hunter reveals

Florida business owners allegedly scattered 1,500 mothballs on beach to send endangered birds packing

Don Lemon Whines to Judge and Blames Trump in Bid to Get Indictment Thrown Out

Cornell bans bear butchering after students carved up creature in dorm kitchen

‘DEI queen’: Virginia Dem’s past embrace of far-left prosecutors unearthed

Slain California fire captain’s wife admits murder after Mexico capture, serving time for killing first spouse

Megan Rapinoe Melts Down After Seeing Photo of Sophie Cunningham with Riley Gaines

Muslims Kill 30 Nigerian Christians in Latest Village Attack

Middle school student arrested after allegedly stashing homemade firearms for robbery plot: sheriff

Persecution of Egyptian Christians Continues in Series of Recent Incidents

Report: Muslim Brotherhood, US-Designated Terror Organization, Celebrates Abdul El-Sayed Primary Win Through Its Media Outlet

Self-Proclaimed Queer Priest Blasts Trump in Award Reception Speech

Dem Senate hopeful flip-flops on emerging issue impacting communities across US

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.