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 highlights comments by ‘Obama sycophant’ Eric Holder, continues pressing Senate GOP to nix filibuster

Pro-life center fights New Jersey attorney general’s ‘fishing expedition’ in Supreme Court battle

Chicago teachers union funneled millions to liberals while keeping members in the dark about finances

Stefanik blasts Johnson, GOP as ‘getting rolled’ by House Democrats

Florida officer shot in face during service call tied to mental health dispute; suspect killed

Trump warns Honduras of ‘hell to pay’ if election count changes, presses officials to finish tally

DHS launches ‘Cyber Monday deal’ in retro 90s holiday ad: $1,000 for illegal immigrants who self-deport

CAIR spins anti-Israel narrative about Somali fraud as scrutiny grows

Drug kingpin El Chapo’s son enters plea in multibillion-dollar drug trafficking case

US escalation with Maduro halts deportation flights to Venezuela

DHS reveals Illegal alien behind fatal crash was given license by deep blue state

Mamdani taps disgraced activist who said ‘one day we can abolish police’ to key public safety committee

Noem calls for ‘full travel ban’ on countries ‘flooding’ US with immigrants after DC attack

Spec ops chief ordered deadly Caribbean strike ‘in self-defense’ with Hegseth’s sign-off, White House says

Democrats open inquiry into Patel’s use of FBI jet

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.