{"id":22667,"date":"2020-03-23T07:15:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T11:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=22667"},"modified":"2020-03-23T07:15:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T11:15:27","slug":"remittances-economy-foreign-workers-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/03\/23\/remittances-economy-foreign-workers-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Economic Downturn May Change Remittance Equation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. economy is harmed by substantial amounts of money sent abroad in the form of remittances:\u00a0 Money that is earned but not spent in the United States. There are about 45 million foreign-born individuals currently living in the U.S. and roughly $150 billion<\/a> in remittances are sent annually to friends and families abroad, the majority from the foreign-born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump has repeatedly criticized the economic\nimpact of remittances. Remittances this year may be significantly curtailed by\nthe outbreak of the coronavirus which is bludgeoning the U.S. economy. These\nremittances sent to poorer countries are likely to be affected by this pandemic\nand this could spur a new wave of illegal immigration from countries in Central\nAmerica\u2019s Northern Triangle.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The once roaring stock market is now but a whimper, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing more than 30 percent of its value in just over a month, closing to within 75 points<\/a> of President Trump\u2019s inauguration day close.\u00a0 Unemployment, which was at 3.5 percent in February \u2013 a half century low \u2013 could rise as high as 20 percent<\/a> because of the coronavirus impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses, including restaurants, shops, clubs, and movie theaters, are shuttering their windows and closing their doors in order to comply with \u201csocial distancing\u201d to contain the coronavirus.\u00a0 These drastic measures have greatly impacted not only the business owners, but also their workers.\u00a0 As of last week, the number of workers claiming unemployment<\/a> because of the coronavirus has jumped to 281,000.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of these workers are hourly wage\nearners who depend on their weekly paychecks to survive.  Many of these workers may also be\nforeign-born workers who send a significant portion of their paychecks to their\nfamilies and friends in poorer countries. This downturn in the economy is\nlikely to significantly impact how much money is sent abroad in\nremittances.  Instead of sending money to\nother countries, foreign-born workers may need to use the once disposable\nincome to pay their rent and put food on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many developing nations, including those in the\nNorthern Triangle countries of Central America, rely significantly on these\nremittances. Mexico, the top receiver of remittances from the U.S., received\nmore than $30 billion in 2017. In the Northern Triangle, remittances accounted\nfor nearly 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Guatemala to over\n20 percent of El Salvador\u2019s GDP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decades of mass illegal immigration and lax border\nenforcement have resulted in ever larger sums of money being sent out of the\ncountry. The dependence on these payments had given Mexico and Central American\ngovernments no incentive to stop the exodus of their citizens heading to the\nU.S. to work illegally.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the magnitude of illegal border crossers climbing to an all-time high last summer, President Trump told Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that he would impose tariffs<\/a> on Mexican goods if President Lopez Obrador didn\u2019t regain control of\u00a0 his country\u2019s southern border. As a result, President Lopez Obrador changed the law to allow those asylum seekers heading to the U.S. to work in Mexico.\u00a0 Shortly afterwards, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador signed agreements<\/a> that allowed asylum seekers to seek protections in third safe countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the coronavirus may have these Northern\nTriangle countries reconsidering those agreements and the U.S. could once again\nsee another influx of illegal border crossers at its backdoor. This time,\nhowever, the U.S. would not have the same leverage it did last summer, which is\none more reason for President Trump to tax remittances and build the wall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. economy is harmed by substantial amounts of money sent abroad in the form of remittances:\u00a0 Money that is earned but not spent in the United States. There are about 45 million foreign-born individuals currently living in the U.S. and roughly $150 billion in remittances are sent annually to friends and families abroad, the<\/p>\n

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