When my husband Kurt and I ran a study abroad program in Honduras, one topic we always discussed was immigration. We’d ask our students to name the classic push and pull factors that drive people to leave their countries, and they could always list a lot: poverty, violence, natural disasters, job opportunities, safety. That framework was familiar and useful for discussion—but over time, I realized it was missing a very important factor.

As I’ve watched more and more of my neighbors’ children leave Honduras for the U.S. and other countries, I’ve come to see that behind all the economic and political reasons for leaving, there is another, more personal one: people leave out of love.

Most young adults don’t head north out of ambition or escape, but because it’s the most tangible way they know to care for the people they love. In a country where stable, well-paying jobs are scarce, working abroad is often the only way to support a family. They go so they can send money back home.

And they send an astonishing amount of money.

Last year alone, Hondurans living abroad sent over $6 billion back to their families (usually referred to as remittances). That’s 26% of the entire Honduran economy—the largest single source of income, more than exports from coffee, bananas, or clothing.That $6 billion represents more than just dollars. It represents millions of hours of labor. People working in restaurants, construction, farms, factories—doing difficult, often invisible jobs to support families they haven’t seen in years.

Even more striking, since the recent U.S. immigration crackdowns, remittances sent to Honduras and other Central American countries have gone up. A recent article in the Washington Post states: “In what may be an unexpected twist as fears of deportation grip the D.C. region, immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala are sending more money home, transferring their savings away from a country where their hopes for the future are dimming.”   (Washington Post)

I don’t support illegal immigration, but I do understand the longing to work—and to be paid for that work. A dairy farmer recently told my friend that his immigrant employees never ask for raises or time off, but they do ask for more hours. Why? Because their hearts are turned toward their families, and more hours mean more money to send home.

From an economic standpoint, it’s not ideal that a quarter of Honduras’ economy depends on remittances. But when, according to the World Bank, more than one out of ten Hondurans live on less than $2 a day and job opportunities are so limited, these transfers are lifelines. Families depend on them—and those who send the money are proud to be able to give.

I believe most of us—whatever our differences of opinion—can agree on this: hard-working people doing essential jobs to care for their families should be allowed to work legally in the U.S. And my Honduran friends would be the first to say: "yes! let us come and contribute—and let us come legally with work visas."

Stay tuned for next month’s post, where we’ll explore what it actually takes to become a “legal” worker in the U.S.