RIGHT SPEAK: Ever wonder How Much Money Immigrants send home to their Native Countries?

How does 120 Billion sound? Just in 2011.

The following article is a book review. I thought the information on remittances by immigrant workers back to their native countries was interesting:

America’s long-running argument about immigration has reached a boil this summer, and as usual the political discussion has focused on domestic issues, including border security, the impact of immigrants on American jobs, and the proper way to deal with people who have come to the United States illegally. Proposals for reform are weighed with one question in mind: How will they help or harm our country and the people who live here?

A woman in front of her home in a Mexican village,built

with money her 18-year-old son sent home from the

United States.

But the American immigration system, which at last count had led to around 40 million foreign-born individuals living inside our borders, also has a huge effect on the rest of the world—something most of us don’t tend to think about at all. Part of it is driven by remittances, the billions of dollars sent back to friends and relatives every year; part of it is more personal, with families abroad split by restrictions on who can work in the United States, and for how long. Returning immigrants can also change their home cultures by carrying back American habits, values, and ideas.

For over a decade, Boston University sociologist and international relations expert Susan Eckstein has made a specialty of studying this often overlooked flipside of American immigration. Her own focus is on Cuba, where the communist government’s efforts to maintain class equality have been challenged in recent years by Cuban-Americans sending home money and presents to their families.

CLICK ON The Map below for an interactive version that tells you How Much and Where it's going: