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.

Judge Boasberg Laying Foundation to Hold Trump Administration in Contempt of Court

Anna Paulina Luna Is Right That It’s Difficult for Moms of Infants to Vote in Congress, But Her Solution Is the Wrong One

New book details Obama’s strained relationship with Democratic party: ‘Obama destroyed that s—‘

Fox News Politics Newsletter: ‘Liberation Day’ Backstory

UC Davis chancellor says violent attack on student conservative group ‘disappointing and embarrassing’

Israel Block Party at University of Texas disrupted by agitators

Despite Manifesto Full of Hate, Nashville PD’s Final Report on Covenant Shooting Comes to Its Own Conclusion

Dem senator looks to hijack key Trump budget process with tariff challenge

US shrimp industry hails ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs as saving domestic shrimpers

Army Considering Major Changes Following Hegseth Directive: Report

Trump’s China tariffs face legal challenge from conservative group calling them ‘unlawful’

South Carolina effort to mirror Trump DEI ban advances to state Senate

International Pedophile Streaming Service ‘Kidflix’ Shut Down with 1.8 Million Users

Trump Celebrates a Major Win as Jobs Report Blows Economists’ Expectations Out of the Water

Stephen Miller rips globalization as the ‘great theft of American prosperity’

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.