Study: Fewer Immigrants Sending Money Home Regularly

WASHINGTON — Fewer immigrants from Latin America are regularly sending money to their home countries because of the slumping U.S. economy and a growing "anti-immigrant" climate, a survey released Wednesday found.

As a consequence, millions of poor families in Latin America will not get the vital help that the money provides, the survey by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) concluded.

"This snapshot in time is not a pretty picture," said Donald F. Terry, general manager of the IDB's Multilateral Investment Fund, at a press conference.

Terry called the remittances "the most effective and important poverty-reduction program in Latin America."

The survey found that half of immigrants — both legal and illegal — were sending money regularly back to their home countries in Latin America this year, compared to 73 percent in 2006.

Despite the drop, the total amount of the remittances is projected to stay roughly level over the same time period, at around $45 billion, because the average amount of each remittance has increased and there are more Latin Americans in the United States, the survey found.

Sergio Bendixen, a veteran pollster whose Miami-based company carried out the survey, said that the amount of the remittances has stagnated after years of explosive growth. For example, from 2004 to 2006, remittances from the United States to Latin America increased from $30 billion to $45 billion.

In Texas, the total amount of remittances is projected to drop by about $1 billion compared to two years ago — from about $5.2 billion in 2006 to $4.2 billion in 2008. In addition, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America who are sending money home regularly dropped from 47 percent to 30 percent, the survey found.

In Georgia, the total amount of remittances is projected to drop by about $300 million compared to two years ago — from about $1.7 billion in 2006 to $1.4 billion in 2008. In addition, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America who are sending money home regularly dropped from 85 percent in 2006 to 53 percent in 2008, the survey found.

In Florida, the total amount of remittances is projected to decrease by about $12 million compared to two years ago — from about $3.083 billion in 2006 to $3.071 billion in 2008. In addition, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America who are sending money home regularly dropped from 70 percent in 2006 to 48 percent in 2008, the survey found.

In Ohio, the total amount of remittances is projected to decrease by about $3 million compared to two years ago — from about $214 million in 2006 to $211 million in 2008. In addition, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America who are sending money home regularly dropped from 71 percent in 2006 to 49 percent in 2008, the survey found.

Bendixen said that a growing "anti-immigrant" sentiment in the United States is a major cause for the drop in number of immigrants sending money back home.

He cited state laws and local ordinances that have cracked down on illegal immigration such as the one in Hazleton, Pa., that he said created a climate of fear in which immigrants have felt insecure about their futures and are therefore more hesitant to send money home.

"They feel that they are not welcome in America anymore," Bendixen said. "They don't know whether they will be able to work next month or whether they will to be able to rent an apartment ... so many become conservative about how they spend their money."

The Hazleton ordinance, which has been challenged in court, would require prospective renters to prove they are in the United States legally and would punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. It would also punish businesses that employ them.

States like Pennsylvania and Arizona, where such ordinances have been passed, all saw significant declines in remittances, the survey found.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports lower levels of immigration, said that Latin American governments should stop looking at exporting their labor force as a source of development income.

In addition, he said that the survey shows that the anti-illegal immigration ordinances are working.

"The goal of enforcement is to get illegal immigrants to change their behavior," he said. "It's to change the climate so that illegal immigrants get the message that the party is over and they need to go home."

The survey included phone interviews with 5,000 immigrants — both legal and illegal — across the United States, mostly in Spanish, and has a margin of error of 1.4 percent.

It also found:

— Twenty-eight percent of immigrants surveyed said they were thinking of returning to their countries of origin.

— Ten states — California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Virginia — are projected to send more than $1 billion each in remittances to Latin America this year.

On the Web:

Inter-American Development Bank survey: www.iadb.org/mif/remittances