Trump policies affect millions of Mexican families who receive remittances

The tightening of the immigration policy implemented by Donald Trump during his second term, which began a year ago, has affected the income of 4.5 million Mexican families that receive remittances, who have also seen their purchasing power decreased due to the appreciation of the exchange rate, which reduces the value in pesos of shipments in dollars.

On July 4, 2025, Trump signed the law One Big Beautiful Bill (A Big, Beautiful Bill) on July 4, 2025, which includes cuts to health benefits, nutrition, and tax credits for immigrant families, as well as an increase in the budget for immigration detention and enforcement.

This legislation incorporates a 1 percent tax on remittances sent in cash or money orders, in practice since January 1, 2026. The tax applies only to shipments in cash, money orders, cashier’s checks or other physical instruments, and is paid by the sender in the United States, in addition to the usual fees.

Other measures that have hit Mexican migrants in the United States include the expansion of operations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), with more than 390,000 deportations in the first year. In addition, the southern border was closed to asylum seekers, refugee programs were suspended except for prioritized groups, and travel from 39 countries, mainly African, was prohibited.

These changes have impacted remittances. According to the Bank of Mexico (BdeM), in 2021 these transfers grew 25.9 percent; in 2022, 12.1 percent; in 2023, 7.6 percent and in 2024, 2.3 percent. In contrast, in the first 10 months of 2025 (latest data available) they fell 5.1 percent.

Likewise, the accumulated amount in 12 months reached a peak of 65.20 million dollars in November 2024 and decreased to 62 billion in October 2025, a reduction of 3.20 million. In November 2025 alone, remittances totaled 5.124 million dollars, an annual drop of 5.7 percent. Likewise, the number of operations that month was 12.6 million, 7.9 percent less than a year before, and is even lower than that of November 2023.

Remittances from Mexico to other countries also fell: between January and September 2025 they amounted to 871 million dollars, 13 percent less than the 998 million in the same period of 2024. This is related to the suspension of entry programs for migrants who used Mexico to cross to the United States, reducing the flow of migrants who worked in Mexico and sent money to their countries of origin.

Janneth Quiroz Zamora, director of economic, exchange and stock market analysis at Grupo Financiero Monex, attributes the contraction to lower labor activity, the moderation of real wages and the tightening of immigration, which increase costs and risks in transfers. He highlighted that the announcement of the 1 percent tax generated an anticipated effect in 2025, introducing uncertainty among unbanked senders and adjustments in shipments.

According to the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies, Michoacán has the largest number of households and adults receiving remittances, with 456,555 households (10.2 percent of the total). Reception is more frequent in households headed by women: 14.5 percent, versus 9.6 percent in those headed by men. In 31 entities, except Colima, there is a greater frequency with female heads.

Another factor affecting households that receive remittances, according to BBVA specialists, is the appreciation of the peso against the dollar, since it reduces purchasing power by converting fewer pesos per dollar. According to the bank, the contraction in the real value of remittances is 13.1 percent annually due to exchange rate appreciation and inflation.

Banamex indicates that the adverse environment in the United States for migrants and fewer jobs affect the loss of dynamism of remittances. Meanwhile, Mexico has responded to Trump’s policies by promoting the Financial Card for Wellbeing with fees of $2.99.

According to various specialists, Donald Trump’s policies have generated fear in migrant communities, with drops in employment of up to 7.2 percent in sectors such as agriculture, construction and hospitality. In states like California they have discouraged traditional resource shipments.