Starting in 2025, Brazil will require visas for Americans entering its territory, and Mexico should do the same. In recent years, due to the prevailing political and economic crisis in the northern neighboring country, the arrival of people from the United States to our country has increased, generating a higher demand for urban services that they require when starting a new life in Mexican territory, without paying a single tax.
Therefore, Mexican authorities should analyze and require Americans to obtain a visa to enter Mexico on equal terms. If they ask us for this document, we should follow the Brazilian example and require this requirement for entering our country as a beneficial measure for all.
In the last five years, the number of Americans receiving residency permits in Mexico has increased by 70 percent, as they have found an ideal place in our country. In their nation, the high cost of living, particularly for rent or purchasing housing, food, and medical services, limits their possibilities for a better quality of life. This has led to a high demand for Americans to acquire housing in Mexican municipalities located just minutes from crossing their southern border.
They live their lives here and come to have fun, like spring breakers, many of whom are not of legal age in their country, but as tourists, they do what is not allowed in their nation.
For example, the monthly rent for an apartment in San Diego, California, is $3,000 (52,980 pesos), while the rent for a whole house in Tijuana, Baja California (just 36 kilometers away), costs $975 (17,218 pesos). With the rising inflation Americans face, our country offers a unique opportunity.
The trickle migration from the United States to Mexico now includes more than just the so-called baby boomers, who were born in the late 1940s and established their residences in Tijuana, Ensenada, Los Cabos, or La Paz, among other cities. Now, many Americans have flocked to our nation for the cheaper costs and social and economic stability.
Today, 1.6 million U.S. citizens live in Mexico (16 percent of the nine million residing outside their country) due to the high cost of living in their country. Of the 172 most expensive cities in the world to live in, the top ones are New York, Boston, Chicago, and Charlotte.
In contrast, Mexico City is ranked 43rd and 11th among the most expensive cities in Latin America. In fact, Mexico City is cheaper than Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Lima, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, making it a great paradise for our northern neighbors.
Moreover, specialists predict an economic slowdown in the United States, which will attract more Americans to our country because of this and the political polarization between Republicans and Democrats. They will continue to come to Mexican lands where they have a good quality of life and do not face the migratory bureaucracy that violates their human rights or the discrimination that Mexicans face in that nation, even with a visa.
BY JULIO CÉSAR MORENO
FEDERAL DEPUTY OF MORENA
@JULIOC_MORENO