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.

GSA finds China-made tech labeled ‘Made in USA’ in federal procurement program, orders sweeping review

Darline Graham Nordone nabs Senate runoff endorsement from ex-primary rival Russell Fry

Danish PM calls migrants with ‘Islamic background’ the greatest threat as Europe braces for second migrant wave

‘Raw material for election fraud’: Expert flags voter-roll problems far beyond one state

Breaking: Luigi Mangione Confesses to Assassinating Health Care CEO, Pleads Guilty to Murder

Female Suspect in WWII Memorial Defacement Arrested, Jeanine Pirro Announces Felony Charges

Cuban ties put powerful US union under microscope over alleged communist influence push

This 2002 Sports Comedy Predicted the WNBA’s Trans Predicament, But Real Life is Even Funnier: Spoilers

WWII Memorial vandalism suspect now in custody, to be charged with two felonies, Pirro announces

WNBA Suddenly Needs Time to Evaluate Men Competing, But the League Wasn’t Confused in This Resurfaced Post

American missionary Kevin Rideout released after more than 9 months in captivity in Niger

Deadly Connecticut home invasion suspect texted ‘I’ll make her life hell’ before attack: report

‘House’ Star Hugh Laurie Blasted by Left After Standing with Sophie Cunningham and Her Fight to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports

No Death Penalty: Tyler Robinson’s Attorneys Launch Plan to Keep Charlie Kirk’s Accused Murderer Off Death Row – and It Could Work

Nigel Farage beats Count Binface to stay as Clacton-on-Sea’s member of Parliament

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.