by Francis Calpotura

When immigrants send money back home to families they left behind, it is an individual act of love. But if seen as a collective act, it can be transformed into economic power that can be of service to family and community.

By bringing together immigrant communities who are the “remitters,” TIGRA (Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action) seeks to force the remittances industry to address the needs and priorities of those who send billions of dollars through the wires. This is why it has undertaken the Campaign for Remittance Fairness and Community Reinvestment.

Remittances have become the fastest-growing revenue source for many developing countries, outpacing income generated from oil (Mexico), coffee (El Salvador and Bolivia), and textile (Philippines and India). Money flows from their diaspora account for significant percentages of the Gross Domestic Product in Haiti (25%), Dominican Republic (15%), Jamaica (14%), and Uganda (10%).

Money transfer companies like Western Union and MoneyGram International still command the lion share of transactions but big financial institutions like Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have spent hundreds of millions of marketing dollars to increase their market share in the lucrative industry.
Ironically, these same institutions and their investors contribute to the decimation of domestic economies around the world that forced millions of people to seek a better life in countries like the United States. Once displaced to reside in poor communities in the United States, they are further exploited by predatory practices of money transfer agencies, check cashing places, and redlined by mainstream financial institutions.

In communities from New York to Providence to Oakland, TIGRA partners are documenting the practices of immigrant families who send money back to their home countries. Collectively, from the first completed TIGRA surveys we’ve learned that:

TIGRA’s organizing goal is to consolidate these organizations and individuals to form a Remitters’ Association that can most effectively frame the experiences of this new constituency and forcefully advance their interest.

Local clubs in immigrant neighborhoods are the building blocks of the Remitters’ Association. Once organized, these clubs can identify reinvestment priorities in their neighborhoods, negotiate with money transfer companies to respond to those needs, and monitor any “Transnational Community Benefits Agreement” that is created.

Remitters’ Associations seek to save families money by cutting fees and finding cheaper alternatives; support Community-Directed Development; and promote and nurture “people-centered” transnationalism.

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Francis Calpotura is the director of Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (TIGRA). TIGRA received a grant from Resist this year. For more information, contact TIGRA, 3781 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611; www.transnationalaction.org.