ANAHEIM, California (CNN) -- As he fixes a broken sliding glass door at an apartment in Anaheim, California, Eduardo Gutierrez worries about his parents in Mexico. Eduardo Gutierrez can't send money back to his parents in Mexico due to rising costs and less work. He can no longer afford to send the $200 to $300 a month he had been sending back home to support his ailing father. "I kind of feel bad that I can't help my parents," said Gutierrez, a legal immigrant who has worked in the United States for 20 years. "I try. But I can't these days, and it's a tough situation."
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Remittances to Mexico fell $100 million in January, according to Bank of Mexico
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"I kind of feel bad that I can't help my parents," immigrant in U.S. says
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Payments to loved ones back home have slowed during U.S. economic woes
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Father in Mexico: "He says things are worse there in California than over here"
He also said the tighter border controls have convinced other @placeholder without legal U.S. paperwork not to try to not sneak across the border to make money for their families.