Thread: US economic crisis is expelling Mexican immigrants

TRANSLATED FROM:
http://www.elsemanario.com.mx/news/news ... ry_id=6490

MEXICO, April 30, 2008 .- The havoc in the economy caused by the mortgage crisis in the U.S. as well as the discrimination has caused that 28% of the migrant Latin Americans in that country consider the possibility of returning to their home countries, reveals a poll carried out by the Pan-American Bank of Development and brought to light on April 30.

The conclusions of the survey carried out among 5.000 migrant latin-Americans in the U.S., indicate that less Latin-American immigrants are sending money with regularity to their countries of origin from the United States.

The survey carried out, by the Multilateral Fund of Investments (FOMIN) in February of 2008 in the 50 states and the District of Columbia found that only 50% of the interviewed still send money periodically to their families, against 73% in a similar survey in 2006.

The main causes for the fall, according to the polled, are the economic deceleration and a more hostile environment towards the immigrants in the United States, the general manager of FOMIN, Donald F. Terry, said in a press conference celebrated today in Washington the National Press Club.

Related article:


Fewer Latino immigrants sending money home

By Julia Preston Published: April 30, 2008



More than three million Latin American immigrants in the United States, responding to the economic downturn and new uncertainties about their future, have stopped sending money home to their families in the last two years, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington.

Only 50 percent of some 18.9 million Latino immigrants in this country now send money regularly to relatives in their home countries, compared with 73 percent two years ago, the survey found.

The drop in the number of people sending remittances, as the money transfers are known, is a sign of pressures on Latino immigrants as a result of the slump in the low-wage job market and of the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, the survey shows. Of the immigrants interviewed, 47 percent said they did not have legal status. The others were American citizens and legal immigrants.

But while the number of immigrant senders declined, the total amount of remittances actually rose slightly between 2006 and this year, the study reported. It estimated total remittances to Latin America at $45.9 billion in 2008, an increase of $500 million over 2006. The amount did not decrease more sharply because Latino immigrants who continued to send funds home sent more money more frequently, the survey found.

However, the total amount of money transfers reported by the development bank slackened abruptly after a five-year period of huge growth in remittances to the region. Between 2001 and 2006, the amount of the transfers tripled, to $45 billion from $15 billion, according to figures from the bank, a multilateral organization based in Washington that finances development projects in Latin America.

Today in Americas
Obama picks up support; Wright remains a worryAgainst odds, New Orleans schools fight backFewer Latino immigrants sending money home"The longstanding pattern of increasing numbers of Latin American immigrants sending increasing amounts of money back home has stopped," said Donald Terry, the general manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund at the bank and the official in charge of the survey. With lower income and less job security, Latino immigrants are saving their money here rather than sending it to support children, spouses and parents at home, the study indicated.

Latino immigrants said they stopped sending money to their families because life is becoming more difficult for them here. Of those interviewed, 81 percent said it was harder to find a good-paying job. Almost 40 percent said they were earning less this year. The largest group of immigrants in the survey, 18 percent, worked in construction, which has been especially hard hit in the slowdown.

A large majority of the Latino immigrants in the survey — whether or not they were illegal — said they experienced increasing hostility as a result of U.S. government and state efforts to curb illegal immigration and punish employers who hire unauthorized immigrant workers. In the survey, 61 percent of Latinos who were American citizens and 66 percent of those who were legal immigrants said that discrimination had become a major problem for them.

As a result of the difficulties, the numbers of immigrants who said they were considering going back to live in their home countries increased notably. Among immigrants who have been here less than five years, 49 percent said they were thinking of returning home, while only 41 percent said they planned to remain in the United States. Over all, just under one-third of the immigrants said they were thinking of leaving this country.

In 2001, the last time a similar survey asked a comparable question, about 20 percent of all the immigrants interviewed said they were thinking of going home.

But Latino immigrant workers who participated in focus groups as part of the survey said they were not ready to leave the United States quite yet, said Sergio Bendixen, the Miami-based pollster who conducted the survey. Instead of going home, the immigrants said they were taking jobs at lower wages or sometimes working two jobs to try to maintain their income, he said.

"These are resourceful people who will do whatever job is available," Bendixen said. "The major dynamic that is holding them back from sending money is fear. They don't know whether they won't be able to get a job anymore."

Despite the worsening conditions in the United States, 69 percent of the immigrants in the survey said their financial situation was good or excellent compared with their prospects at home.

The families of an estimated 3.2 million immigrants who would lose income because they would no longer receive transfers from the United States were among the poorest in the region, and the majority were in Mexico, said Terry, the bank official.

The survey was conducted in Spanish from Feb. 9-23 with a sample of 5,000 interviews and a margin of error of 1 percentage point.



http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/30/ ... 1immig.php

just 28% ... now thats discouraging... let me know when we get close to the 100% mark and we lock up our politically corrupt politicians that allow for Americans to be slaughtered and raped by the Illegal Alien Hoard... at that time I will celibrate

Whens the Tea Party going to begin

What a load of BS, we're deporting ILLEGAL aliens from ALL countries, not just Mexico. Legal immigrants from Mexico and other countries have a right to be here, illegal ones don't.

Why didn't they report on the more than 5000 Guatemalans deported so far this year? Asians? Jamaicans? Irish? Italians? Polish? Russians? Yes and Mexicans too. Anyone we catch here illegally should be deported.

AirborneSapper7 wrote:

Whens the Tea Party going to begin

Mainstream media, under the directions of President Calderon, Mexican consulates, La Raza, and other pro illegal immigration groups, are conducting their 'Pity Party Propoganda Promotion' right now with their SOB story reporting.

We can just call it "purging"!!

and a more hostile environment towards the immigrants in the United States

Ok, they are NOT immigrants if they are here illegally, they are invaders, and as such, they SHOULD feel uncomfortable and unwanted. Would they expect Americans to keep welcoming them with open arms as they invade, rob, rape and steal their way into the American dream, when they have no right to it? What are they expecting? Obviously all too many are thick headed when they don't see that stealing American citizens ID's and all is something that really ticks us off.

Last time I looked---there were 8 million Americans out of work. Where are the sympathetic arguments for them?? Where are the news articles showing their plight??
Oh, I see, if you are American, the liberal press thinks you owe it to the people from South and Central America as well as Mexico to give them your jobs and how sad if you won't.
Well everyone is jumping on America. The Irsh Prime Minister , today, asked for a path to citizenship for illegal Immigrants from Ireland. Why?? Because the Irish economy is undergoing a slowdown. So let's screw some more Americans to provide jobs for those who stole into our country from all over the world at the same time our Congress is seeking more H1B visas to bring in people from Asia and other locations. Then you have Bill Gates saying that America does not have enough Information Technology people. Amazing, since I know people who were laid off and cannot get a replacement job.

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?l ... 1&docID=-1

Here ya' all go, let them have it in Ireland about how WE Americans feel about foreign leaders sticking their noses into our government and telling our president whom to legalize. Here is a whole page of email addresses, take your pick and email away, tell them we do not appreciate having them tell us to alow invaders, no matter where they are from, into our o****ry and expecting us to give them a free pass.

BTW, make this page well known, and let's all bombard them with emails.