Mexicans working abroad sent a whopping $5.63 billion to relatives in their homeland last October, an increase over the previous two months. Still, remittances were down year-to-year for a seventh consecutive month, according to data released Monday by the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
The average remittance was $403 in October, Banxico reported.
Political leaders and economists attribute the continuous decline to uncertainty over jobs and permanence among immigrant communities in the United States. Ninety-six percent of Mexico’s remittances come from the United States, where the Trump administration has barred asylum-seekers and continues to engage in high-profile immigration raids.
“It has to do with the situation Mexicans are living over there […] And Mexican migration has diminished,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday.
The fear of going out and perhaps the sudden reluctance of some employers to hire undocumented immigrants could figure in the decline.
Remittances are an important part of Mexico’s economy. Last year they added up to $64.7 billion or the equivalent to 4 percent of the gross domestic product. Mexican economists predict a 5 percent drop in 2025 to just over $61 billion.
Only half of the analysts from BBVA, a multinational financial services firm from Spain doing business in Latin America, agree with Sheinbaum.
“The argument is that the decline in remittances is attributable to U.S. immigration policy. However, this is a weak argument. Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, countries with a high percentage of undocumented immigrants (in the U.S.) have had large increases in remittances,” BBVA said in a brief published Monday.
Remittances to Honduras were up 24 percent in October while Guatemala saw a 19.5 percent increase and El Salvador a 16.3 percent hike, according to the firm.
“The aggressive immigration policy implemented by President Trump exacerbates the dip in remittances to Mexico, which have gone down because of the slower arrival of new Mexican migrants in the past two years, compared to other Latin American migrants,” the BBVA brief states.
U.S. government data shows third-country migrants replaced Mexicans as the main demographic coming to the United States during migrant surges taking place during the Biden administration.
BBVA expects the flow of money from abroad to Mexico will remain below last year’s levels but still account for around $60 billion. (https://www.cbs42.com/news/mexicans-in-us-sending-less-money-home-while-central-america-getting-more/)
