his daughter about $ 200 per week . But last week he sent nothing . `` He told me he has no more work because of the situation there , '' Pena said . `` Temporary workers are always the first to lose their jobs in crises like this one , '' said Luis Pena , an economist . `` Since many Mexicans in the United States are there illegally , they are most vulnerable to unemployment . '' Some economists predict the drop will increase by year 's end to 20 percent . After oil exports , remittances are Mexico 's second-largest source of foreign currency . In Atlanta , Georgia , which has one of the greatest concentrations of Mexican residents in the southeastern United States , Yasmin Gutierrez runs a company that Mexican immigrants use to send dollars abroad . `` Before , they used to come every week and they used to send big amounts and lately , well , nothing , or almost nothing . Some clients are no longer coming , and those that are coming are sending small amounts . '' Rosina Gonzalez , who ran a Western Union office in Atlanta several
MEXICO CITY , Mexico -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Mexicans in the United States sent home 12.2 percent less money this past August than the same month last year , the Banco de Mexico said Wednesday . Mexicans in the U.S. are sending fewer dollars home and are suffering from a tough economy . That translates into remittances of $ 1.9 billion , versus $ 2.2 billion last year , said the bank , which blamed tough economic times in the United States for the decline . `` The prolonged deceleration of economic activity in the United States has adversely affected the opportunities for employment in that country and , consequently , those of the Mexican migrants , '' the bank said in a statement posted on its Web site . August 's tally quickens a trend -- during the first eight months of the year , remittances fell 4 percent to $ 15.6 billion , the statement said . The numbers translate easily into stories of hardship . Marilyn Pena lives outside Mexico City and depends on remittances to get by . Her father migrated to Chicago 12 years ago to find work and , in good months , sends