Drop in Remittances Sparks Debate Between Mexico and Its Migrants

La Opinión, News Digest, Gardenia Mendoza Aguilar and Eileen Truax, Translated by Suzanne Manneh, Posted: Aug 18, 2008

Editor's Note: A Mexican government official called on Mexican workers in the United States to send more money home, but Mexican migrants did not respond favorably. Gardenia Mendoza Aguilar reports from Mexico City and Eileen Truax from Los Angeles for La Opinión.

Drop in Remittances Felt by Mexican Families

Remittances to Mexico are down and people like Rosalinda Ortiz, who depend on money sent from the United States, are feeling the impact on their wallets. Ortiz’s husband, an undocumented immigrant who worked as a bricklayer in Wisconsin, stopped sending her money six months ago when he lost his job. Since then, he has traveled to various states in search of work: Illinois, Nevada, and even Texas, where he considered crossing the border back to Mexico.

To support herself and her three children, Ortiz opened a traveling quesadilla shop in her community north of the state of Guerrero, and earns 400 pesos a week — the equivalent of $40 — just enough to cover her family's basic expenses.

Most families that depend on remittances spend the money on food, medicine and their children's education. They can’t afford to put money into savings toward building their own homes or other expenses.

"Mexico is addicted to and very dependent on remittances," asserted Rodolfo Garcia Zamora, developmental studies researcher at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ).

According to the Bank of Mexico, 12.6 percent of the families residing in Mexico's municipalities receive money from the United States. Remittances are the second largest source of income for Mexico, behind oil exports.

In 2007, remittances flowing into Mexico reached a high of $23.98 billion, but the Bank of Mexico estimates that they declined by 2.2 percent in the first half of this year.

Additionally, an estimated 100,000 Mexicans have returned to their home communities so far this year as a result of their perilous economic and social situation in the United States, which may begin with the loss of a job, and end in detainment and deportation.


The Mexican Government Intervenes

The drop in remittances to Mexico has prompted Mexican Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mourino to urge Mexican nationals in the United States to keep sending money and invest in their home country.

"These are our people, our countrymen and their commitment to Mexico is vital to this country," he said. He also added that he plans to expand a social welfare program that seeks to develop Mexico's poorest communities and support Mexican migrants in the United States. "We must find ways to overcome this crisis," said Mourinio who explained that the large number of returnees plus the young people ready to enter the workforce are additional challenges for Mexico's economy.

Yet he said that the Mexican government has taken steps to prepare for the crisis, including tax incentives in marginalized communities, increased public spending and temporary employment programs for returning migrants.

Mouriño spent the weekend in Los Angeles, where he met with Mexican migrant communities to exchange ideas and identify their greatest challenges.


U.S. Mexicans Respond

But Mexican nationals in the United States did not react favorably to Mourino's call to action.

While they are willing to support their home country, migrants say they expect the same from their government.

One day laborer expressed his frustration with Mourino's speech, saying, "He wants us to send more money? Well get us more jobs.â€