Q&A of the Day – About immigrants sending money outside the US

Q&A of the Day – About immigrants sending money outside the US

It’s the Q&A of the day. Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.

Twitter: @brianmuddradio

Facebook: Brian Mudd https://www.facebook.com/brian.mudd1

Today’s question was submitted via Twitter…

@brianmuddradio can you research money sent back to their country by IMMIGRANTS.This is a key to Socialism. Splitting the families, then the families maintain the government by sending all this money(back into it). That money leaves the USA and it does not come back, is out of the system and we are talking BILLIONS a year. How much money is sent to Cuba, Mexico and South America every year?

Bottom Line: It’s a valid point. Every year there are millions of people who work in the US, because of the opportunity provided by our country, that ship money outside the US to aid their families in these socialistic countries. It certainly does play a role in the ability to prop up the governments to a degree (though it’s understandable that these immigrants would want to support their families).

Cuba– Unclear but the US is #2 in overall tourism to the island (behind Canada) with over 280,000 visitors annually

Here are the countries in the region that benefit most from money being sent back into to assist families.

Mexico– 2016: $28.6 billion (3% of GDP)

Guatemala– 2016: $7.5 billion (11% of GDP)

Dominican Republic- 2016 $5.5 billion (8% of GDP)

Colombia– 2016: $4.9 billion (2% of GDP)

So, yeah not insignificant by any means in any of those counties, the but influence in the DR and Guatemala is huge. In related news yesterday, the Trump administration ended the provision for a 5-year visa for Cubans. That is important because the more money that’s brought in from the outside into Cuba, the greater the power of the Castro regime.