海角大神

Alberto Burgos is one of thousands of Mexican migrants living in the United States who dug deep and sent extra money to family back home last year to alleviate the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Growing plants and helping to handle their sale at a huge nursery in Alabama, Mr. Burgos dipped into savings to transfer about a third more to his聽hometown in central Mexico than he did in 2019, he said in an interview with Reuters.

Mr. Burgos is one of a growing number of Mexicans with U.S. work permits or access to benefits who helped to fuel a more than 10% jump in remittances to Mexico last year to more than $40 billion, even as money transfers to other countries tumbled.

The record remittances have made Mr. Burgos鈥� hometown of Jantetelco 鈥� which has sent many economic migrants to work in U.S. nurseries and elsewhere 鈥� an oasis of relative prosperity despite the worst recession to batter Mexico since the 1930s.

鈥淩eturning to Mexico made me very sad this time: It鈥檚 hard to see people with nothing,鈥� Mr. Burgos said. 鈥淭hank God I was able to support them because I didn鈥檛 lose my job.鈥�

Because of a surge in demand for flowers from Americans trying to brighten up their homes and enjoy gardening during lockdown, Mr. Burgos had about nine months of work in the U.S. last year, three months more than usual, he said.

The pandemic shaved 8.5% off Mexican gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, but remittances softened the blow, helping Jantetelco residents to repair their聽homes and even cover private medical bills sparked by the strain on public hospitals.

Last year, total remittances to Mexico were equivalent to about 3.8% of GDP, according to calculations by economists including Jonathan Heath, a board聽member of Mexico鈥檚 central bank. Over 95% come from the U.S., official data show.

The volume underlines Mexico鈥檚 reliance on the U.S. even as former President Donald Trump attempted to shut down migration with a border wall聽and threats of trade sanctions.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has hailed the migrants as 鈥渉eroes鈥� but Mexico鈥檚 dependence on their money shows the difficulty he has had in delivering聽on his pledge to create economic conditions that render migration unnecessary.

As U.S. citizenship grows, so do remittances

Helping to fuel remittances is greater access to social security among Mexicans in the U.S., 60% of whom have lived there for at least 20 years,聽according to data from Washington-based think tank the Migration Policy Institute.

Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the percentage of Mexican migrants with U.S. citizenship has risen significantly, said Jesus Cervantes, a remittance聽expert at the Centro de Estudios Monetarios Latinoamericanos (CEMLA) research institute.

Over the past decade, the number of Mexican-born people registered in the U.S. has declined slightly. But the proportion of those holding U.S.聽citizenship rose by nearly a third to 37% of the total, according to the IPUMS USA database, based on an annual U.S. survey.

That, Mr. Cervantes said, made remittances to Mexico 鈥渕ore resilient鈥� than they have been to other countries.

Global transfers to Latin America as a whole likely fell by around 20%, and declined by 13-22% to countries across Asia, according to an annual report聽by bank BBVA.

Much of the money captured in Mexico last year went into health care and housing, experts say.

Mr. Burgos asked Reuters not to reveal how much money he was sending back via Western Union lest it encourage criminals to target his family, a risk in Mexico.

A municipality of about 18,000 inhabitants, Jantetelco took in about 25% more in remittances between January and September than in the same period in 2019,聽according to central bank data.

In the third quarter, that equated to about $425 per person 鈥� or to almost two months鈥� worth of Mexico鈥檚 daily minimum wage.

Other Jantetelco residents said they have used remittances to pay for everything from construction and renovation of homes damaged by a 2017 earthquake,聽new cars, appliances, and crop seeds, to coming-of-age parties.

Mexico鈥檚 leaders have traditionally tended not to draw attention to the money, given the often murky U.S. migration status of many people supporting families聽in Mexico.

But Lopez Obrador has repeatedly celebrated their contributions, and welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden鈥檚 bid to implement a reform that would settle the migration status of many Mexicans living in the U.S.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e vulnerable on remittances,鈥� said Bank of America economist Carlos Capistran, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 income the country doesn鈥檛 control.鈥�

This story was reported by Thomson Reuters Foundation.聽