Latin American immigrants in the United States will send a record $30 billion to their homelands in 2004, according to a new report released this week by the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). The estimates are based on the first state-by-state data ever collected on remittance flows.  According to the Washington Post, the survey results are from 3,802 telephone interviews with Latin American adults in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Of those surveyed, about one-third were undocumented immigrants, and about one-fourth were U.S. citizens.

The study found that on average, Latin American immigrants send money home once or twice a month, in amounts ranging from $150 to $250.  In addition, The Wall Street Journal reported that this community had a combined gross income of $450 billion last year, and spent 93% of this amount locally. 

The survey also discovered that almost eight in ten immigrants use money transfer companies for their remittances since only half of these people have bank accounts.  Donald Terry, who heads the MIF, hopes that this statistic will persuade financial institutions to reach out to Latin American immigrants and that the remittance records can help immigrants obtain credit and other bank benefits. 

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) says that the analysis of the MIF survey is flawed and only represents a small fraction of the cost of mass immigration to American taxpayers and workers.  Not included in the study are the social expenses incurred to provide basic services to the immigrants, their families, and the workers they have displaced.  While the MIF concedes that this equation has not been considered, they also point out that immigrants do contribute to these social costs.  All of these workers, even undocumented ones, pay sales and withholding taxes and most will never receive Social Security benefits.