A New Worry for Mexicans in the U.S.: The Strong Peso

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Most of the money that Antonio Solis makes delivering food on his motorcycle in New York City will eventually make its way to Monterrey, Mexico, where it will pay for his family’s mortgage, his daughter’s college tuition and daily expenses like groceries. But covering those costs is getting harder. Mr. Solis, who earns about $3,500 a month delivering for apps like DoorDash, used to send about $1,500 monthly. Since the spring, he has had to send more than $2,000 to cover the same expenses, something he does by working longer days. The culprit is a sharp appreciation of the Mexican peso over the past year, a product of high interest rates and foreign investments in Mexico, among other factors. That means each dollar Mr. Solis sends covers less of the budget back home. He, like hundreds of thousands of other Mexicans abroad, has contributed to the billions of U.S. dollars that flood into Mexico each year — money that families there rely on to make ends meet. Mexico is the second-biggest receiver of remittances behind India. In 2022, those working abroad, primarily in the United States, sent more than $61 billion to Mexico. The largest portion of that money goes to food and clothes, followed by health care, according to the Wilson Center, a Washington research organization.