When Dieufort Florissant first came to the U.S. from Haiti 23 years ago, he would wire $100 or $200 to his parents in Croix des Bouquets. Once he got on his feet, he wired $500 every month.
Now the big banks want to get in on that money, which adds up to $100 billion annually in remittances flowing from all across America. Advocates say mainstreaming this money will help bring immigrants into the fold by moving money from the shoebox under the bed into the home mortgage.
Guests:
Dimetrios Papademetriou, President, Migration Policy Institute
Don Terry, Manager for the Multilateral Investment Fund, Inter-American Development Bank