As the economy spirals, many immigrants who send money abroad to their families are grappling to find more work as their birth country’s currency rises in value against the US dollar.

Many attempt to pack on extra work hours and pick up extra jobs. Others have been forced to double the cost of their goods and therefore have lost a large portion of their clients. Some simply decide not to immigrate to the US. 

According to an article posted on Yahoo News in the Christian Science Monitor, the ailing dollar has encouraged South American immigrants to apply for citizenship in Spain over the US. As one man pointed out, sending cash home in Euros means more money for his family then sending dollars.

Currently, an estimated 150 million immigrants send money home, with an estimated value of $90 billion. Many can support themselves and a whole family abroad, but, like a World Bank economist points out, a 20 per cent hit to a family living barely above poverty is felt much harder then in a wealthy or middle-class American family.

Although figures are still blurry in regards to immigrants being affected by the US dollar, according to some, immigration patterns into the US will change over the next few years if the dollar continues to sway.