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 signs off on nationwide vaccine schedule review as CDC withdraws infant Hep B guidance: ‘Fast track’

Two arrested after dozens of guns, including ‘cop-killer’ model, found in spare tire at southern border: DPS

Pastor Says Barron Trump Is ‘Very Close to Putting His Faith in Christ’ After Lengthy Conversation

88-year-old Army veteran working at grocery store receives over $1.7M in donations after viral video

ICE arrests Azerbaijani national with multiple criminal convictions, including animal cruelty, arson

JetBlue Plane That Abruptly Lost Altitude and Made Emergency Landing Likely Hit by Cosmic Ray: Expert

JD Vance Responds as Media Seeks to Stoke Controversy Over His Wife’s Wedding Ring

Fox News Politics Newsletter: Capitol Hill revolt threatens Trump’s Venezuela playbook

Dem-backed ‘dignity’ bill could strip ICE of detention powers, erase immigration enforcement, critics warn

Disgraceful: Duchess Meghan Accused of Stealing $1,700 Dress from Photoshoot, Using the ‘Archiving’ of Her Royal Clothing as the Excuse

Macron denies ‘everything’ about US betrayal comments as White House hosts Ukraine for marathon talks in Miami

Watch: Stephen A. Smith Gushes About ‘Positively Brilliant’ Trump Who Keeps Foiling Democrats at Every Turn

Disgraced ex-Sen. Bob Menendez banned from holding any public office in New Jersey

Breaking: Trump Wins FIFA Peace Prize, Calls it ‘One of the Great Honors of My Life’

SCOTUS to review Trump executive order on birthright citizenship

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.