70 billion

From the pen of #JoséGalicot

Immigrants in the United States send 70 billion dollars a year to Mexico. They generally send it all over the country because they have relatives, especially parents and siblings, whom they support endlessly.

The total amount received from immigrants is bigger than the amount Mexico gets from tourism and oil. Since this money is sent from the United States in dollars, when the peso stays strong and steady, the beneficiaries receive less. But the question is: Will Mexico keep receiving these amounts in the future?

Will the new generations continue to support their relatives in Mexico? Of course… not! The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of immigrants will lose contact with their Mexican relatives and will not send money unless a strategy is made to bring the new generations closer. (We have said it a thousand times to all the politicians who have wanted to listen to us.)

If we receive 70 billion, or 500 dollars a year per capita per Mexican, why don't we invest one dollar per Mexican? That is 130 million dollars in trying to build bridges and rapprochements between Mexican Americans. For example, let's invite the best university students of Mexican origin to visit Yucatan. We would take them to the pyramids, offer them tequila, and teach them Spanish, Mexican songs, and history. We would take them to Xcaret to see the Mexican spectacle that moves us to tears. When they return, they will be proud of their roots and perhaps maintain close and permanent relations with their families’ country of origin: Mexico.

Of course, we should start negotiations with many immigrants who have achieved “the American dream” and could invest in our country, creating solid, unbreakable ties.

We should copy the approach that Israelis take with American Jews by creating a lobby with a powerful political force that could serve Mexico's interests.

There is no doubt that Mexico's destiny is to grow powerful beyond borders, and its cultural, economic, social, and historical ties must be recalibrated and sustained not only by nostalgia or tacos but also by what is analyzed here.

Mexico is more than just the territory we inhabit, and we must think of Mexico as its potential for greatness, not only in the present but with a vision for the future.

We are not targeting 70 billion this year; we are targeting 100 billion in the next 20 years.

We have to study Mexican-Americans because they are another culture, and there are variations between them. Those born in California are different from those born in Chicago, Atlanta, or New York. The place where they live transforms them and impacts them. Getting to know them means learning about them, understanding them, and keeping a relationship that is convenient for all of us. It means a lot of money.

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For the Spanish version, visit: https://tijuanainnovadora.org/comunicado/70-mil-millones/