How Remittances and Crime Rates in Mexico Are Linked

Deportations are a double-edged sword for Baja California

In a study conducted by the Inter-American Bank, the amount of remittances received by Mexico is inversely related to the amount of crime in the country. According to the study, every 1 percent increase in the number of households receiving remittances, reduces the homicide rate by 0.05 percent.

In 2013, Mexico received 21.59 billion dollars in remittances. Once 2014 numbers are published, that figure is expected to go up. In Baja California alone, remittances increased by close to 16% by the close of the third quarter when compared to 2013, and have more than doubled in the past decade. Remittance income for the country ranks just below what Mexico earns from petroleum, tourism and the automotive industry.

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And although remittances account for less than 3% of the country's GDP, in Mexico's poorest areas, remittances can account for up to 19.5% of local income. Just in Guanajuato alone, although it only receives 4.5% of remittances received by Mexico, the money received from abroad is 112% greater than wages earned by those enrolled in the state's social security. In Oaxaca, this same comparison tallies in at 96%, and in Michoacan and Guerrero it equates to 89%.

Remittances fluctuate depending on the economy and migration trends, and while the economy has strengthened since the 2008 crisis, so has the crack-down on deportations. In 2013, largely due to increased deportations, the amount of remittances to Mexico decreased in comparison to the prior year.

From 2010 to 2013, Mexico received almost 1.2 million deportees, of which nearly 47% arrived in Baja California, and 27% of those arrived in Tijuana. Each year, a greater number of non-criminals are deported, but Tijuana is witness to how displaced people resort to crime upon arriving in a city to which they have no ties, without any sort of legal identification to obtain employment or support system. For Baja California, deportation is a double edged sword as it not only brings a reduction in remittances, but an increased amount of deportees to a city that does not have enough resources to provide for them. The city of Tijuana takes on the greatest burden of what is a national problem.

Despite all of the support that remittances provide to the country, once deported there is little support for deportees, many of whom end up in Tijuana's river canal that lies next to the international border.

Known as "El Bordo", thousands of deportees live in makeshift shelter along the river. Non-profit shelters that used to care for northbound migrants are overwhelmed by deportees. Many deportees stay in Tijuana with the hopes of being able to return to the U.S., others stay to remain close to family left behind in the U.S., and others stay behind because they don't have enough money to go anywhere else. Given the dire conditions they live in, it is no wonder that many resort to using drugs or committing crimes to get by.[/p]

One way you can support those that have been deported to Baja California is by supporting any of the local organizations that are trying to help.

One example is Fundacion Gaia, which organizes various programs and initiatives to support the homeless community. They organize walk-troughs of the river channel where they distribute clothing, food, and basic necessities, and medical aid to the homeless.[/p] Another is the Padre Chava breakfast program, which feeds hundreds of migrants on a daily basis.

One interesting campaign underway is attempting to tackle this issue via the creation of urban farming. The project, which is called Bordo Farms, has been designed with the focus of supporting the displaced community of Mexican deportees while at the same time producing self-sustaining local/organic farming for the city of Tijuana. They are currently seeking donations to launch the first stage of the project. The group is led by the Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum comprised of a group of young local leaders, in collaboration with Grupo Gaia and Transicion Tijuana, a group that organizes projects around the city to support the environment via sustainability projects.

borderzonie@gmail.com

@borderzonie

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