Thread: Austin Mexican consul sounds off on Trump, border surge

January 6, 2016
James Barragan

Carlos González Gutiérrez, the consul general of Mexico in Austin, sounded off on Donald Trump, the assignment of the National Guard to the southern Texas border and the state’s denial of birth certificates to children of undocumented parents during a visit to Mexico City.

González Gutiérrez, who became Mexico’s top foreign official in Austin last May, made the statements to a Mexican new outlet during the annual reunion of Mexico’s foreign ambassadors and consuls.

Speaking of Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican comments, González Gutiérrez said in Spanish: “We are under very strict instruction to respond with firmness to this type of rhetoric that is always seeking short-term benefits that will help during elections.”

He added that the subject of Trump was broached at the gathering and that the attendees discussed which kinds of responses to the real estate mogul and Republican front-runner were most effective.

González Gutiérrez drew a connection between Trump’s rhetoric and increasingly restrictive measures by state governments, such as Texas’ denial of birth certificates to children of undocumented parents. A lawsuit filed by several immigrants, in which the Mexican government filed an amicus curiae, is set to go to trial in December 2016, he said.

The consul lamented that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had extended the National Guard’s presence at the state’s southern border with Mexico last month, prolonging a controversial mission that began in 2014 when unaccompanied children from Central America began pouring into the country.

“We don’t believe that this type of unilateral move helps and we’ve made that known to him and publicly,” González Gutiérrez said.

While signaling that Abbott had expressed his desire for better relations with Mexico, which is one of the state’s biggest trading partners, the deployment of the National Guard to the border is an area of friction between the two governments.

“We should be able to develop a relationship with the government of Texas where a single issue doesn’t dominate the entire relationship and we never lose the dialogue that had been previously ruptured and that, now, with this administration is constant,” he said.

http://somos.blog.statesman.com/2016...nnual-meeting/

The consul lamented that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had extended the National Guard’s presence at the state’s southern border with Mexico last month, prolonging a controversial mission that began in 2014 when unaccompanied children from Central America began pouring into the country.

“We don’t believe that this type of unilateral move helps and we’ve made that known to him and publicly,” González Gutiérrez said.

Well, if our federal government and Mexico did their job securing the border, just maybe Gov. Abbott wouldn't feel the need to get involved! Now quit crying and get your country to stop allowing drug smugglers, people smugglers, and the poor to cross illegally into the United States with a free pass.

This is why Mexico has 50 Consulates in the United States to represent its citizens and make sure the money keeps flowing. Mexico makes sure it keeps its citizens under its jurisdiction.

03.02.2015
MigrationIn 2014, Remittances to Mexico reached 23.6billion dollars (+7.8% y/y)
Juan José Li Ng, Alfredo Salgado Torres• In December 2014, remittances reached 2,196.4 million dollars (md), 18.8% more than thesame month in 2013 and a run of 17 consecutive months of positive growth.•

Thus, Mexico received in 2014 an amount of 23,606.8 md in remittances, 7.8% greaterthan the level reached in 2013.• Despite the recovery in employment in the US over last year, there is no significantincrease in Mexican immigration to that country, which is the main source of remittances toMexico.•

The increase in remittances to Mexico during 2014 is mainly explained by the increase inemployment of Mexican immigrants already living in the US, and the substitution of parttime jobs with full-time jobs

The Central Bank of Mexico (Banco de México) announced that during last December 2014 Mexico received aninflow of 2,196.4 md in remittances, 18.8% higher than the amount of the same month of 2013. Thus,remittances to Mexico recorded a run of 17 consecutive months of positive growth since August 2013.

Thisgrowth is explained by both, the increase in the number of recorded transactions as well as the rise of theaverage amount of remittance. The number of operation for sending remittances was 7.3 million (+11.6% y/y),while the average remittance was $300.6 (+6.4%).

The remittances of Mexico during 2014 reached an amount of 23,606.8 md, equivalent to an annual growth rateof 7.8%. This is the highest growth recorded since 2006, before the beginning of the Great Recession in theUnited States.

In real terms, and favored by the depreciation of the exchange rate (peso per dollar), remittancesto households in Mexico risen by 8.0%.

Chart 1
Family remittances to Mexico( % annual chance in dollars)

Source: BBVA Research with Banxico figures.18.3% 17.9%1.9%-3.5%-15.3%0.0%7.0%-1.6% -2.4%7.8%2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014In 2014, it is observed a recovery of US employmentDecember 2013 to 5.6% in the same month of 2014.

BBVA Researchbased on the Current Population Survey (CPS)to the US. Despite this, the growth in
1) The increase in employment ofconcentrated in the construction industry

2) The substitution of part timeChart 2Accumulated 12-month Remittance inflows t(Million dollars)

Source: BBVA Research with Banxico figures.

Chart 4Monthly inflow of remittances to Mexico(Million dollars and million pesos)

Source: BBVA Research with Banxico and INEGI data. SEE CHART AT LINK

it is observed a recovery of US employment due to the drop in the unemployment rate fromDecember 2013 to 5.6% in the same month of 2014. BBVA Research claims, according toCurrent Population Survey (CPS), that there is no evidence to support a rise in Mexican migrationthe growth in remittances during 2014 may be explained by two main sources

The increase in employment of Mexican immigrants, which grew about 400,000rated in the construction industry, and,art time with full-time jobs among Mexican immigrants.month Remittance inflows to MexicoChart 3Family remittances to Mexico(% annual change in dollarsSource:

Remittances by state.
During 2014, remittances grew in almost all states in Mexico. In the three Border Statesof Nuevo León (+34.7%), Tamaulipas (+28.5%) and Coahuila (+24.3%) are observed the greatest annual growthrate in remittances with respect to 2013, only Querétaro (-3.6%), Puebla (-0.2%) and Guerrero(-0.1%) have a decrease in the amount of remittances in 2014.

Table 1Inflow of remittances by state (Million dollars and % change)

State Remittances in 2013 Remittances in 2014 Change (%)Nuevo León 460.0 619.4 34.7%

▲Tamaulipas 647.4 832.0 28.5%
▲Coahuila 315.3 391.8 24.3%
▲Colima 179.7 216.6 20.5%
▲Tabasco 114.0 130.3 14.3%
▲Hidalgo 632.2 720.6 14.0%
▲Nayarit 316.1 359.4 13.7%
▲Jalisco 1,734.8 1,949.0 12.3%
▲Baja California Sur 44.9 49.4 10.1%
▲Chihuahua 501.7 551.8 10.0%
▲Zacatecas 632.9 692.3 9.4%
▲Michoacán 2,041.9 2,229.7 9.2%
▲Distrito Federal 1,393.2 1,518.7 9.0%
▲Chiapas 497.1 540.0 8.6%
▲Quintana Roo 97.6 105.8 8.4%
▲San Luis Potosí 703.4 762.6 8.4%
▲Sinaloa 482.6 522.7 8.3%
▲Durango 454.9 489.7 7.7%
▲Baja California 579.7 618.9 6.8%
▲Aguascalientes 303.6 323.3 6.5%
▲México 1,409.7 1,480.5 5.0%
▲Yucatán 123.6 129.1 4.4%
▲Morelos 508.2 527.8 3.9%
▲Guanajuato 1,990.9 2,066.7 3.8%
▲Sonora 324.8 336.6 3.6%
▲Veracruz 1,017.1 1,044.7 2.7%
▲Oaxaca 1,161.9 1,191.7 2.6%
▲Campeche 55.1 55.7 1.1%
▲Tlaxcala 217.9 218.5 0.3%
▲Guerrero 1,203.9 1,202.5 -0.1%
▼Puebla 1,337.3 1,334.6 -0.2%
▼Querétaro 409.3 394.5 -3.6%
▼TOTAL 21,892.4 23,606.8 7.8%
Source: BBVA Research with Banxico data.

Disclaimer This publication is a joint initiative between the BBVA Bancomer Foundation and BBVA Research's Economic ResearchDepartment, Mexico. It aims to make new contributions in the field of Migration studies that add to knowledge of this important socialmovement. It has been prepared on their own behalf and is for information purposes only. The opinions, estimates, forecasts andrecommendations contained in this document refer to the date appearing in the document, and, therefore, they may undergo changes due tomarket fluctuations. The opinions, estimates, forecasts and recommendations contained in this document are based on information obtainedfrom sources deemed to be reliable, but BBVA does not provide any guarantee, either explicit or implicit, of its exactitude, integrity orcorrectness. This document does not constitute an offer, invitation or incitement to subscribe to or purchase securities.https://www.bbvaresearch.com/wp-cont...02/2015-02-03-FlashMigracionMexico_01_english.pdf