Number 18, June 2012
briefing paper
REUTERS/Eliana Aponte
Exchanging People for Money:
Remittances and Repatriation
in Central America
by Andrew Wainer
Key Points
• Part of the $10 billion sent annually in remittances to Central America
could be harnessed to support productive projects in migrant-sending
communities, but the current lack of a policy framework and technical
know-how are barriers. U.S. development agencies are well positioned to
facilitate the productive uses of remittances at both the policy and program levels in cooperation with host governments and the private sector.
• According to its own cost estimates, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spent approximately $1 billion apprehending, detaining, and
deporting 76,000 Central Americans in 2010. Surveys indicate that, partly because of the lack of long-term reintegration assistance, 43 percent
of deportees intend to return to the United States within a year. U.S. and
Central American observers state that the percentage of return migrants
is larger. U.S. development policies in Central America should include
programs to help returned migrants support themselves and contribute
to economic development in their home countries.
Andrew Wainer is the senior immigration policy analyst for Bread for the World Institute.
Bread for the World Institute provides policy
analysis on hunger and strategies to end it.
The Institute educates its network, opinion
leaders, policy makers and the public about
hunger in the United States and abroad.
www.bread.org
Abstract
Immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras sent home more
than $10 billion in remittances in 2011—
almost all of it from the United States. Remittances comprised 17 percent of GDP
in Honduras, 16 percent in El Salvador,
and 10 percent in Guatemala and they
dwarf both foreign direct investment and
overseas development assistance. Remittances reduce poverty and help millions
of families that receive them obtain food,
clothing, education, housing, and health
care, but they can also create dependence
on the diaspora. Their greatest potential—
fueling productive investment that generates jobs and income and reduces immigration pressure—is often untapped.
In addition to the flow of money back
to Central America, in recent years the
number of immigrants returning from
the United States to their home countries
has increased. During fiscal year 2011, the
United States deported a record 396,906
unauthorized immigrants, including
more than 76,000 Central Americans.
Central American governments are unprepared for these returned migrants.
Many deportees end up re-migrating to
the United States because of the lack of
opportunities in their native countries.