2016 remttances hit record high

One reason El Salvador is so worried about president Trump's actions on immigration is the country's dependence on family remittances from relatives in the US.   During 2016, those remittances hit an all time record high according to El Salvador's central bank:

Remittances to El Salvador jumped by 7.2 percent in 2016 compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching the highest level in the country's history and marking the biggest increase in a decade, El Salvador's central bank reported Monday. 

Remittances, which mostly come from the United States and underpin the impoverished Central American country's economy, totaled $4.58 billion in 2016. 

"The accumulated [amount] between January and December 2016 constitutes the highest amount in the history of remittances received in El Salvador and the highest growth rate in the last 10 years," the bank said in a statement.

 The remittances equal 17.1% of El Salvador's total economy.  

(Source  VOA News).