According to an article in today’s New York Times, not only are immigrants (regardless of status) sending more money back to their Latin American homelands, but the money s being sent from more areas of the U.S. than in years past.

“Twenty years ago the money was coming from four or five states; now it’s coming from every corner of the country,” said Sergio Bendixen, a Miami pollster who surveyed some 2,500 immigrants, legal and illegal, for the survey on which the report was based.

According to some the amount sent back to Latin America is expected to reach the $45 billion mark, more than half of what was sent only two years ago. The article also goes into a little bit of the cultural significance of the remesas, citing how not sending money back is a sign of being a “bad” family member.

Via / The New York Times (Registration required)