Remittances Boom - No Investments In USA

[WhiskeyGirl]

Overall, remittances to developing countries, including Vietnam, are expected to increase 6.2% this year and 7.1% in 2011, the World Bank says. For low- and middle-income countries — which received $335.8 billion in remittances in 2008 — these funds not only raise the standard of living, but help finance countries' imports and plug their trade deficits, says Ahmad Ahsan, the World Bank's lead economist for the East Asia and Pacific region.

Developing economies' reliance on remittances is only increasing as a sluggish global economy curtails other sources of funding. Already, "In many poor countries, remittance flows have become significantly higher than foreign investment flows," says Ahsan.

Where is the immigration upside in the US?  Who invests here?  Or, do they just take and qualify for benefits?  If an immigrant sends all their money home, do they still get welfare?  Means tested Social Security?

For some reason, this just stinks.  Main Street Americans get penalized for investing here, immigrants get a free ride when they invest in their homeland.

Just stinks.

As remittances balloon, mainstream financial providers are jumping in to capture the business. In the U.S., Wells Fargo  now offers this service to 15 countries in Asia and Latin America. The bank has a footprint in some of the most diverse markets in America, so it makes sense to offer customers the ability to send money back to their homelands, says Daniel Ayala, Wells Fargo's head of global remittance services. Among the countries the bank serves, the average amount remitted per transaction is highest in India, at $1,662, followed by Vietnam, at $1,369.

"Remittances and investment have helped to provide several billion in inflows to Vietnam each year" as Viet Kieu increasingly reconnect with their homeland, says Sidel. "There's no reason to think it won't grow."

Who's investing in America?  American's just get the debt, Obama's depression, and a hopeless future.

more here - http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2010-08-18-vietnamremittances18_ST_N.htm

When will immigration policy work FOR Americans?  When will Washington work for Main Street?

just my humble opinions