The pandemic has diminished the earnings of thousands of immigrants, but nevertheless remittances to relatives do not stop

Immigrants in the US send record numbers in remittances despite COVID-19 hit

Many took advantage of a rise in the price of the peso to send remittances this Monday.

Photo: Ana Milena Varón / EFE

Despite being hit by the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus immigrants in the United States have not stopped sending money to their countries of origin, even surpassing the previous year’s figures because, in some cases, it represents an insurance for foreigners in the face of the possibility that President Donald Trump is re-elected.

The future does not look very good, we do not know what is going to happen in this country, and if they throw us out, we must have something to live with in Mexico“Luis Rojas, who has lived in Los Angeles for 18 years, told Efe.

The Mexican immigrant sent his parents in Colima, Mexico, $ 500 on Monday, 200 more than he is used to sending. “You have to take advantage of the fact that the change is good,” he explained. For every dollar that the construction worker sent, they will give their parents 22.10 Mexican pesos.

The immigrant was encouraged to send the remittance on Monday after reading that the dollar woke up with a rebound in the price for the first time in almost a month.

A woman sends an international shipment from Los Angeles, California. / Ana Milena Varón / EFE

“You have to take advantage of when they are paying it well,” he said in a sample of the experience left by almost two decades of shipping. Rojas indicated that her parents use about $ 250 for her expenses and keep the rest for her.

“I want to have savings in Mexico because it is unknown, many of the people I know are doing the same,” insisted the 38-year-old Mexican, who did not want to reveal his immigration status.

Diana Bustamante, 25, a native of Chiapas, Mexico, said that the “racism” that exists in the United States encourages immigrants to send more money.

Mexico experienced a 10.1% increase in remittances between January and July 2020 compared to 2019.

In the first six months of this year, immigrants sent more than 22,821 million dollars, an amount higher than 20,744.68 million dollars a year ago, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.

The average remittance in the period from January to July was 337 dollars, 4.33% higher than in the same period of 2019 -when it was 323 dollars-, and the number of operations went from 64.14 to 67.64 million .

The Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, predicted that the amount received in remittances this year will be a new record and will reach 40,000 million of dollars.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here