Report: Increase in Wire Transfers From US to Mexico Since January

Mexicans living in the United States are sending an increased amount of money to their relatives in their native country.

The Hill cites Mexican banking data that shows there was a 6.3 percent increase in remittances sent from the U.S to Mexico in January of this year compared to January 2016. The difference amounted to about about 500,000 transfers.

According to the report, Mexico received $26.9 billion in money transfers from the U.S. last year. The practice occurs on a regular basis in the U.S. Hispanic community, and President Donald Trump said during his presidential campaign he may use that as leverage to get Mexico to pay for a border wall that will separate the two countries.

Remittances are not taxed by either the U.S. or Mexico. Trump's idea was to either withhold them from going through or slap a tax on outgoing remittances from the U.S. to Mexico to help cover the wall's cost.

Mexicans have pushed back on Trump's decision to both build a wall and figure out a way for Mexico to pay for it. They've also been critical  of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.

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