A Cuban resident in the Miami area posted a video on Facebook where he breaks down, with concrete numbers, how much an immigrant earning $2,600 USD per month truly has left in their pocket in the United States: only 100 dollars a month after covering all expenses.
Angel Luis Bolaños Filippis, identified with the hashtags #305, #miamibeach, and #homestead, recorded the video in response to those from Cuba who make calculations about their relatives' earnings in "la yuma" without considering the actual cost of living.
"All the people who don’t live here, who have never been here, but keep tabs on those of us who do live here. They say, 'If you earn 100 dollars a day, that’s 3,000 in a month,'" says Bolaños Filippis at the beginning of the video.
The author explains that, excluding weekends, this income is reduced to about 2,600 dollars per month. From there, the breakdown is relentless: rent 1,100 dollars, insurance 200, car 400, water 100, electricity 100, gasoline 300, and food 300 dollars.
“At $2,600, take away a rent of $1,100. That leaves $1,500. Subtract about $200 for insurance. Subtract $400 for the car. All on the low side,” he details.
The final result leaves the worker with barely 100 dollars free after a full month of work.
The conclusion of the video directly addresses the tension experienced by many Cuban emigrants with their families on the island.
"So, if out of those 100 they send you 50 dollars, they are sharing with you what they have left after an entire month's work. You should say thank you, and you're not saying that with what they earn they are going to give you more."
The message resonated strongly within the Cuban community abroad. The video garnered over 73,000 views and 2,125 reactions, reflecting how many expatriates identify with that reality.
The phenomenon is not new. Since 2024, Cubans in Miami, Detroit, and other cities have published similar videos showcasing their actual income and expenses to highlight a situation that their families in Cuba often underestimate.
That gap in perception is exacerbated by the economic crisis on the island, where the average salary does not exceed 16 dollars per month, making any remittance from abroad a vital resource for family survival.
At the same time, sending money from the United States has become more difficult and expensive. The remittances dropped from 800 million dollars in 2019 to just 35 million between January and May 2024, according to data cited by El Toque. Additionally, there is the 1% tax on cash remittances imposed by the Trump administration in January of this year, along with the closure of Western Union for shipments to Cuba.
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