Thread: Mexicans Barely Increased Remittances in ’07

The New York Times
Mexicans Barely Increased Remittances in ’07

By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: February 26, 2008
MEXICO CITY — Mexicans working in the United States sent back almost $24 billion to their families at home last year, almost the same amount as the year before, the Mexican central bank reported on Monday.

The bank said the economic slowdown and the crackdown on illegal immigrants in the United States helped to explain sluggish growth in money transfers, known as remittances.

Remittances grew 17 percent in 2006, in line with the annual double-digit growth over much of this decade. But in 2007, they increased by just 1 percent, to $23.98 billion.

The sharp contraction in the United States housing industry last year had a particularly noticeable effect on remittances because many Mexicans are employed in construction.

The central bank added that heightened border security was making it much harder for Mexicans to enter the United States in search of work without authorization. Once in the country, it is harder to find jobs because of tighter controls against employers who hire the undocumented.

Remittances are among Mexico’s largest sources of foreign currency. Last year, foreign companies invested $23.23 billion to build factories or set up other businesses in Mexico, the second-highest total for foreign direct investment ever. That was still less than the money that the largely low-skilled Mexicans sent home in the form of remittances.

The central bank recently cut its economic growth forecast for 2008 by half a percentage point, to a range of 2.75 to 3.25 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/busin ... ref=slogin

That is $23.98 billion NOT spent in the U.S. and recirculated. Money earned in the U.S. which is spent and not subject to U.S. state or local sales taxes, money not invested in the U.S. nor saved in U.S. bank accounts.

When you add the $23.98 billion to the unknown billions going to Mexico for drugs--how much U.S. money goes to Mexico each year?

Let me know when the remittances start to decrease and I'll tell you when our government is actually getting serious about enforcement!

PLEASE, LET ME KNOW???

I'VE WROTE CHAMBERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY... I WONDER IF THE EMAILS ARE EVEN GETTING READ.

WE SHOULD ALL GET TOGETHER AND GO FROM STATE TO STATE GETTING THE ILLEGALS OUT, AND MAKING SURE THE MAYOR, GOVERNOR AND STATE POLECE ARE ENFORCING THE LAW!

WE COULD DO THAT THROUGH THE MEDIA - DOCUMENTING AND THEN AIRING IT.

I'M A PRODUCER, BUT I NEED HELP -- I CAN'T DO IT ON MY OWN. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN HELP?