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.

Alarming missile report draws forceful response from Trump as Iran war tests America’s arsenal

Former soldier indicted on charges of ‘calculated’ arson attack on federal Manhattan building

Iranian experts estimate economic losses from Operation Epic Fury at $280 billion

Pirro throws drops charges in three more Reflecting Pool vandalism cases amid Trump outrage

Trump admin trucking crackdown lands 51 immigration detentions, 36 English language proficiency violations

Rosie O’Donnell Announces She’s Returning to ‘The View’ Despite ‘Tense Time with Whoopi’

A Behind the Scenes ‘War’ Is Underway Between Bernie Sanders Insiders: Report

Sheriff in Nancy Guthrie Investigation Hit With Eye-Watering 9-Figure Lawsuit Over Another Dept. Disaster

Todd Blanche’s Nomination Takes Major Step Forward After Clearing Senate Judiciary Committee Vote

Is this Trump’s last ‘last chance’? Ceaseless string of broken ceasefires fuels doubt over Iran deal

Reporter’s Notebook: Inside the Senate showdown over Trump’s push to scrap August recess

Arizona man allegedly paralyzed by Nancy Guthrie sheriff’s deputies after alleged swatting call demands $176M

Illegal immigrant suspect charged in crash that killed police officer and his girlfriend

Left’s latest socialist darling dragged over ‘whiteness’ comments pulling in her own family: ‘Weirdo racism’

Top media outlets fail to disclose who is bankrolling their AI reporters

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.