On January 23rd, PEW Research posted an article about the flow of money worldwide. The article noted that in 2016, $28,126,000,000 was sent from America to Mexico by Mexicans living in the United States.
An article posted at the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform explains how this impacts America.
The article reports:
$60 billion dollars are earned by illegal aliens in the U.S. each year. One of Mexico’s largest revenue streams (after exports and oil sales) consists of money sent home by legal immigrants and illegal aliens working in the U.S. Economists say this will help Mexico reduce its $17.8 billion defecit and may bolster the peso. $10 billion dollars (as of 2003) are sent back to Mexico annually, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, reported in an Associated Press article, up $800 million from the previous year. ($9 billion dollars were previously sent back annually, according to a September 25, 2002 NPR report). That figure equals what Mexico earns annually from tourism. This is a massive transfer of wealth from America – essentially from America’s displaced working poor – to Mexico.
A May 28, 2004 study by Bendixen & Associates6 found that legal and illegal immigrants send a total of $30 billion to their home countries on an annual basis. Mexico receives $13.3 billion a year. The largest amount in remittances ($9.6 billion) is sent from California, followed by New York ($3.6 billion), Texas ($3.2 billion) and Florida ($2.5 billion). Of those surveyed by the study, 24% were Latin American-born U.S. citizens, 39% were legal residents, and 32% were illegal aliens. Sixty-one per cent of those surveyed send remittances overseas at least once a month. A typical remittance is between $150 and $250.
This is money earned in the United States, but not added to the United States economy–it is money added to the Mexican economy. It should be noted that these remittances include money earned by both legal and illegal immigrants. In the case of the illegal immigrants, they are not paying taxes to America and often are taking advantage of federal assistance programs (I know illegal aliens are not supposed to be able to take advantage of federal assistance programs, but I personally know of instances where they have been able to do so easily).
It is time to take control of our borders. We need to return to a merit-based immigration system and return to the idea of allowing people to come to America who want to be part of America. Our Constitution is the foundation of our law. If you want to live under something other than the U.S. Constitution, please go elsewhere. It is time that we brought people in who will add to the general well being of America. That is the only way to ensure the future of our country for our children.