Thread: [Oregon} Migrant's Remittances have a downside

Salem, Oregon _ The Sunday Oregonian - nov 27-2005 page B7
Dollars earned in Oregon could be key to the stability or undoing of some mexican communities.
The Money that migrants send home-- some $218 millioin last year, most of it to Mexico-- has helped sustain some villiages and improved conditions in others. yet, that same money creates tempatation when people see returning migrants wearing nice clothes and shoes.
" The children see that and think the American Dream is real," said Valentin Sanchez , a co-founder of Organization de Communidades Indgenas Migrantes Oaxaquenos ( Organization for Migrant, indigenous communities from Oaxaca) in Salem.
In Oaxaxa, for example, that money primarily is used to pay for daily needs, such as food and clothing, or add floors and roofs to homes., said Jeffery H. Cohen, an economic anthropolgist at Ohio State University. Although there is an investment of remittances, there also is a great dependency on them, the professor said.
Remittances are Mexico's second-largest source of income after petroleum. Although some Americans think Mexico encourages migration because of the money, Fernando Sanchez Ugarte , Mexico's Consul General in Oregon, said the government would like to stem migration out of Mexico.
" For us, as a country, this is not our best interest," he said, " we're losing our communities"[/i]

First off; note the media bias here:
there is no counterview point from a local union- nor a labor leader nor are there statistics on displacement of american workers in the housing and labor market here in Oregon.
Second , note the Mexican consul lied and said they do not encourage immigration. they are issuing Consulate cards in oregon now- and mexico is encouraging the immigration of it's indian population-, largely uneducated and a burden to a country ,with virtually no social services.
note, the bias towards giult- you wouldnt want to have people in mexico starving would you? so hire an alien-
Note: the myopic journalism- Did the journalist interview the mexican consul and ask what programs mexico planned to implement to feed house and educate their own people in their own country?
no.
the american workers and the american poor are invisible to the media- all that matters is the plight of the illegal aliens.

thelma - I have some higher numbers:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0713/p04s01-woam.html

The IADB estimates that people from Latin America and the Caribbean living abroad sent home $45.8 billion in 2004, representing a 15 percent increase over the previous year. Remittances are a mainstay of economies in countries like El Salvador and Haiti, where the $1 billion sent home is equivalent to 25 percent of the island nation's gross domestic product.

Mexico is the principal recipient of remittances, receiving $16.6 billion last year, equal to all foreign direct investment and nearly 80 percent of income earned from oil exports. Brazil is a distant second with $5.6 billion. Using Mexico as a bellweather, remittances could grow even faster this year. Mexicans living abroad sent home $5.6 billion in the first four months of the year, representing a 19.1 percent increase over the same period last year.

Were talking about a lot of money that is being sucked out of the US economy.

for sure! how come the media never says nothing about the impact of these Mexican swiss bank accounts ?

Consulate of Mexico
1234 Sw Morrison Street
Portland Oregon
503-274 - 1442

David Sarasohn - Associate Editor The Oregonian
503-221-8523
Davidsarasohn@news.oregonian.com

Ron Wyden :Senator~ Democrat- Oregon- 706 Ne multnomah street
portland Oregon 97232-
503-326-7525

Gordon Smith Senator - Oregon~ Republican-~ 121 Sw salmon street -
portland Oregon 97204~
503-326-3386
Representative~Earl Blumehauer- 729 NE Oregon -
Portland Oregon ~97232
503-231-2300~~~
Dorothy Hooley
315 Mission se
salem Oregon 503-588 9100