A large number of Mexican immigrants working in the US are employed in the construction industry which has over the years seen a boom, but with the economy slowing down even the once prosperous construction business has been hurt. In recent months the construction sector has had a huge impact on more than $23 billion that Mexican immigrants send back home. The problem is indeed serious as around 20-25 per cent of the Mexican immigrants are working in this sector.
In the first half of 2006 remittances went up to 23.1 per cent but in 2007 the remittances recorded a meagre growth of just 0.6 per cent. Jesus Cervantes who heads the remittances department at Mexico’s Central Bank believes that apart from the 20-25 per cent of legal Mexican migrants who are working in the construction sector there are around 20-25 per cent illegal migrants who are also earning a living in the US.
The reduced growth in remittances is attributed to several factors other than the slowdown in the construction business. The increasing difficulty Mexican migrants have in crossing border and the crackdown on illegal migrants living in the US are some of the reasons that account for this trend. The Mexicans in their home country are now living in despair hoping for a miracle to change the scenario.
Tags: migrants, remittances, US
