Diego Sinuhe Rodríguez, Guanajuato’s Secretary of Social Development, stated: “Guanajuato ranks third among national remittance reception states in the country, receiving more than $ 1.8 billion USD annually from migrants living in the U.S.A; we’re talking 10 percent of the total remittances entering the country”.
According to data from the State Institute of Attention to the Migrants of Guanajuato, around 1,250,000 Guanajuato born migrants currently live in the United States.
In fact, a total of 1.5 billion USD was received from January to September 2016, according to data from the Economic Information System of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico). the state of Guanajuato is in third place at national level, just below Michoacán and Jalisco.
“According to the “Migration and Remittances Mexico 2016 Yearbook” Guanajuato’s families of migrants use these resources mostly to buy food, clothing, improve their housing and pay debts”, said the official.
In León, the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Cámara Nacional de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo – CANACO) announced discounts and promotions to migrants and their families in the acquisition of goods or services in 500 businesses affiliated in this state, through the “Impulso Migrante card”.
“This card will allow them to obtain a discount whenever they pay for any kind of goods or services at participating businesses”, Rodríguez added.
According to Banxico, most citizens send their money through electronic transfer services such as Moneygram or Western Union; and for every 300 dollars that a migrant sends to Mexico, they must pay between 5 and 9 dollars depending on the money transfering company they are working with.
The Ministry of Social Development (Secretaría de Desarrollo Social) reported that between 2009 and 2014, 8.8 percent of the migrants who returned to Mexico, came to Guanajuato.
Juan Manuel Rodríguez, a migrant from Texas, is going to spend the Christmas holidays with his family here in Guanajuato. He said that he and his family are afraid of the changes that might surge next year with the new president of the USA.
“Only in the company where I work in Texas, 70 percent of the employees are migrants, and 30 percent of them are Mexican”, the Mexican migrant said.
Source: http://www.20minutos.com.mx