From Reuters
President-elect Trump ran a campaign steeped in anti-Mexican rhetoric and threatened to halt transfers from Mexican nationals unless Mexico agreed to pay for the massive wall he has vowed to build on the U.S. southern border to keep out illegal immigrants.
The value of the remittances considerably exceeds that of Mexico's oil exports.
The payments from Mexicans living in the United States are a key source of income for many families in Mexico, where around half the population lives in poverty.
Bank BBVA Bancomer has forecast that those Mexicans will have sent a record $27 billion in remittances into Mexico in 2016
Mexico gets cash, America gets illegal immigrants. Good deal. For Mexico. $27 billion? That's $27 BILLION earned in the U.S., not spent in the U.S. but, instead, sent to Mexico and spent in Mexico. I assume the remittances sent from the U.S. to Mexico are sent by both legal and illegal workers in the U.S.
What does all this mean? This means that Mexico benefits every year (by $25 billion), America loses every year (- $25 billion). Mexico wins. And Mexico refuses to pay for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico? Or would they would rather lose $27 billion - a year?
