Remittances from Texas to Latin America: $5.2 Billion
I’ve actually never seen any figures attached to remittances from immigrants back to Latin American countries. This article contains the numbers for California, New York ($3.7 billion), Texas as well as the national total. California leads the pack with $13.2 billion in remittances and nationally, remittances totaly around $45 billion, and these numbers are increasing.
Remittances from Texas will soar by 64 percent this year compared with 2004, surpassing the national increase of 51 percent, the study found.
The Washington-based organization that promotes development in Latin America and the Caribbean estimates that the 12.6 million immigrants living in the United States will send $45.3 billion to relatives living across Latin America this year, from the border towns in Mexico to the tip of Argentina.
Naturally, banks have noted this and see it as a potential market.
These cash flows have captured the attention of U.S. and international businesses in the last few years. Banks across the country are trying to tap into that market by offering money-wiring services. And in cities with large immigrant communities like Houston, furniture, cement and real estate companies offer immigrants here the chance to pay for sofas, construction materials and new homes in Mexico and Central America.
If you lived in Texas, you would notice the large number of prepaid phone cards for calling south of the border and the number of places offering to transfer the money south. Mexico’s objection to the fence is because of the huge economic impact it could have on their country. Maybe even enough to start some market reforms so the south of Mexico can enjoy some of the advantages the north of Mexico is enjoying due to NAFTA.