As Remittances Flow Upstream, Immigrant Workers Remain in United States
Posted on | November 17, 2009 | No Comments
Conventional wisdom contains many assumptions (most of them flawed) about what the lives, motivations, and characteristics of foreign nationals in the United States are like. About 18 percent of Nevada’s population, or about 470,000 people, are foreign-born. Those ignorant of what the immigrant experience is like often express beliefs that immigrants come to this country for a “free ride” on the nation’s social services, unemployment benefits, schools, etc.
In reality, for many immigrants the goal is–and has been for decades–to work hard to take advantage of superior economic opportunities in the United States, live a quiet and modest life, and send leftover earnings to support family in their countries of origin. These money transfers, known as remittances, represent a large and growing phenomenon in which parents, siblings, and even spouses and children are supported from afar.
In 2008, some $280 billion was transferred from immigrants working in wealthy countries to relatives in the developing world. This figure includes $60 billion to Latin America, of which four in five are from the United States. Thus, of the $24 billion remitted to Mexico last year, some $19 billion was sent from immigrants working in this country to relatives in the south. These figures are official, recorded amounts; transfers in person, through goods, and by other means would balloon the total figure even more.
But the last 18 months have been especially trying for the U.S. economy, with measured unemployment at over ten percent and another seven percent of workers “underemployed.” Though the data are mostly anecdotal, observers have reported a remarkable new trend: “reverse remittances,” in which families in Mexico and elsewhere are sending money north to support migrant workers who are floundering in the United States.
A recent article from the New York Times describes this unusual phenomenon. One small bank in Chiapas, Mexico described a monthly flow in which north-to-south remittances were only 60% of south-to-north transfers. This is doubly striking because Mexico is hardly weathering the economic storm itself: economists predict that the Mexican economy will contract by 7.5 percent this year.
Despite the reversal of monetary flows, migration patterns are not pivoting. This is likely due to the better long-term prospects in the United States, the prospect of immigration reform, and the large sunk cost of getting a family member into the country to begin with. Whether legally with a work visa or through a family petition, or illegally by crossing the border with a coyote, travel and startup costs are major investments for poor families hoping for an economic payout.
If you want to come to the United States on a work visa, or if you are an illegal alien who wants to change status, please contact our Reno or Las Vegas office to speak with our experienced immigration attorney.
Tags: H1B Work Visa > Illegal Aliens > Immigration Attorney > Immigration Lawyer > Mexico > Nevada > Permanent Resident > Undocumented
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