Mexican undocumented workers in the United States can receive pension support from Mexico

WESTLAKE DISTRICT, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Many older undocumented immigrants have worked in the United States for decades and sent money to Mexico, so they may soon receive pension support from their home country.

For the first time, the Mexican government could extend pension support to its citizens living in the United States

The Mexican government has announced that it will expand its Bienestar pension program to include Mexicans living abroad, which officials say could happen as early as next year.

Supporters of an expansion of the Mexican pension program met in the Westlake District on Wednesday to express their support.

“I’ve been supporting my family for 23 years now,” Martha Salazar said through an interpreter. “At the very beginning when I was working here, I started working double shifts so I could send money to my children so they could study and we could pay for our house.”

Advocates say older undocumented immigrants have no pension or retirement benefits and many of them send most of their salaries to their families in Mexico. Now they are struggling to make ends meet.

“I have very serious health problems. These problems make me vulnerable in many ways,” said Arturo Juan Manuel Herrera, an undocumented Mexican native, through an interpreter. “I worry every day that my wife might get sick because she has to work so much.”

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that undocumented immigrants paid nearly $97 billion in federal and local taxes in 2022.

A recent report by the nonprofit National Day Laborer Organizing Network shows that Mexico received over $60 billion in remittances in 2023, mostly from Mexicans working low-paying jobs in the United States.

According to the nonprofit, there are hundreds of thousands of older undocumented immigrants who have contributed to both the U.S. and Mexican economies.