
A little-noticed surge across the U.S.-Mexico border: Americans heading south - howard941
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-little-noticed-surge-across-the-us-mexico-border-its-americans-heading-south/2019/05/18/7988421e-6c28-11e9-bbe7-1c798fb80536_story.html
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ilaksh
I work for a tiny (remote work) startup that isn't funded so the pay is
minimal for now. I lived in San Diego for most of my life but I couldn't
really afford it anymore without giving up on the startup.

So I moved to Playas de Tijuana. The rent is hundreds of dollars less than the
apartment that I had in the ghetto on the US side, but it's right on the
beach.

I haven't owned a car for awhile so take Uber most of the time when it's too
far to walk. Short Uber trips would cost about $6 in the US, and longer ones
$23 or so. In Tijuana it is $2 for short or $7 for longer. Some things like
many electronics seem to be similar prices to the US side, but other things
like food are significantly less than the US. Normally to get groceries I walk
to Calimax or Walmart. The private health insurance with medication was adding
up to quite a bit and I did not want to lie and pretend I lived in California
so I did not maintain that. The most expensive medication I have is the Advair
asthma inhaler which costs $400 in the US is about $40 here.

Overall my cost of living is maybe 66% lower.

As far as the visa, I was honest when I initially walked across the border
that I was planning to stay for an extended time, and they just had me pay $30
for a 180 day tourist visa. Then I actually screwed up and it was expired by a
few weeks before I realized so I walked back across the border again and came
back and told them I was going to stay for at least a few months more. I was
apprehensive when I went to buy the visa again because it seems like they
could easily track it via the computer when you give them your passport and
purchase it. But the attendant didn't say anything and just gave me another
one.

This leads me to believe that hardly anyone in Tijuana cares about the visas
for Americans and that the official policy is to just keep giving 6 month
tourist visas indefinitely.

If I did not want to pay the $30 every six months anymore then I could just
lie when I cross back and say I was just going to party for a few days. It
doesn't seem like there is any possibility of anyone besides me looking at the
tourist visa while I am here. They only look at it when you cross back over
and I rarely receive mail in my San Ysidro box so I rarely need to cross.

~~~
hombre_fatal
Even if you overstay a visa, it's 700 pesos to get a new one inside Mexico (in
Guadalajara at least).

I'm the only person I know who leaves the country every six months, and it's
mainly because I like to visit my parents at least twice a year and it only
costs a $100 ticket for me to see them.

Everyone else discards the visa and pays the 700 pesos (35 USD) when they
finally fly out of Mexico.

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sockpuppet999
Once you get away from the hustle and bustle of the border towns, Mexico is
the land of sun and flavor. I've got family that live like Kings off thier
civil service pension in oceanfront villas just a few short miles south of
here. There were scary stories about the narco related violence all over the
news a while ago and I'm sure it's still happening but in my experience if you
don't go looking for trouble you don't find it. I understand why the locals
want to leave for better opportunities. I also understand why the locals on
this side of the border head south- for better opportunities. Yes,Mexico has
some issues Just like everywhere else But the housing is cheaper and sometimes
even better than what you get in southern California. Beer is cheaper (Coronas
are about 10$ a case) People are friendlier and really have a honorable
culture compared to where I live now. Food prices are basically comparable in
the cities with all your favorite brands ( produce is better than USA imho)
Most places have less regulation regarding building codes and zoning although
I understand this cuts both ways but basically if you get the land( they do
99yr leases instead of ownership unless you are a citizen) If you get the
land- you can build to your hearts content. There is a huge population of usa
people there already and from countries far and wide and the locals for the
most part embrace development . I could go on and on

~~~
NotSammyHagar
I love being in Mexico but when the occasional thing happens it's horrifying.
In Cabo San Lucas someone in my family has a house and it feels safe and fun
to go there. Then two years ago there was a kind of mini drug war and one day
there were dead bodies hanging from the freeway overpass [1]. If I was driving
by they might just kill me to keep it quiet. That's the terrifying thing, I
never worry about that in the US. I have a friend from Mexico, he was a
college prof, he refused to give a student a good grade based on a bribe but
he didn't know his family was in some kind of gang and one thing lead to
another and he decided to immigrate for safety. We never had problems in my
family, but we stopped going that year it got dangerous there.

[1] [https://www.kcra.com/article/bodies-found-hanging-from-
overp...](https://www.kcra.com/article/bodies-found-hanging-from-overpasses-
near-cabo-san-lucas/14488563)

------
obiefernandez
I'm an American that's been living in Mexico City for 2 years and don't want
to ever have to leave. AMA

~~~
influx
What's crime like compared to a major city in the USA?

~~~
King-Aaron
This is what I'm most interested in. The picture that the media paints of
Mexico City is one of constant violence and crime, I'd love to hear a
differing perspective.

~~~
masonic
US media I see depict Mexico City as _safer_ than the country at large due to
less gang influence.

~~~
obiefernandez
There are a couple of neighborhoods here like Tepito that people say to avoid
at all costs. But other than that I don't think it is less safe than any major
city anywhere. Mexico City is huge. A lot of people don't realize how big it
is.

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icebraining
Centuries after independence, seems like the former colonies keep mirroring
the relationship of their former colonizers - Spanish-speakers going north to
work, English-speakers going south to retire.

~~~
mdhen
Except the colonizers of Mexico were Spanish. They definitely did not speak
English

~~~
pmart123
I think he is referring to the English going to Spain to retire and the
Spanish going to London for work mirrors Americans going to Mexico to retire,
and Mexicans coming to America for work opportunities.

~~~
icebraining
Yes, exactly.

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erik_landerholm
I’m sorry, call me paranoid or easily duped by bad press, but there is just no
way. I understand that you can get more got your money there, but I’ll take my
chances here. America needs work, don’t get me wrong, but no thanks.

~~~
icebraining
Eh, lots of Europeans would say the same about moving to the US!

~~~
thatoneuser
Sure and vice versa for us about Europe. Either way Mexico is much more worse
off than the other two entities.

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neonate
[http://archive.is/qb2GJ](http://archive.is/qb2GJ)

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PixelPaul
How much would you need per month to live very comfy? In a beachside place?

~~~
hombre_fatal
"comfy" varies so much between people that the question cannot be answered.

I lived in a tiny unit on a beach in Oaxaca for $60/mo. And I consider walking
out the front door of an apartment onto a beach more comfy than anywhere I
have lived so far in the States for $1000+/mo.

Meanwhile, I know people who aren't willing to give up even the smallest
trappings of familiarity, and they can only endure in a Hilton in a tourist
city that doesn't even seem like Mexico.

~~~
PixelPaul
What I wood need; good condition house or unit with 2 bed room, fast internet,
safe area, no shortage of good food, beach

~~~
PixelPaul
Safe for kids too

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deogeo
> “Despite the fact that Donald Trump insults my country every day, here we
> receive the entire international community, beginning with Americans, with
> open arms and hearts,” Villareal said. [..] Unlike the United States, Mexico
> hasn’t traditionally had many immigrants. Less than 1 percent of the
> population is foreign-born.

13.7% in the US are foreign-born - making US arms more than ten times as open
to the international community as Mexico's. It's easy to be welcoming to
foreigners when their numbers are a rounding error compared to the total
population.

~~~
NotSammyHagar
13.7% might be foreign born but immigrants are crucial to our economy, they
stimulate the economy by their spending and we'd have negative population
growth without them. Even undocumented or illegal immigrants are a net
positive economically. Many many industries would be devastated without their
foreign workers, including agriculture and restaurants, among many other
areas.

~~~
sieabahlpark
Illegal aliens are a net loss of around $113b cost to the taxpayers. More than
they bring in and it's just a little more than I want to spend. If California
complains about having $1b funding pulled for their rail project imagine
having 113b pulled. At least be honest that you don't know what you're talking
about.

[https://www.fairus.org/issue/publications-
resources/fiscal-b...](https://www.fairus.org/issue/publications-
resources/fiscal-burden-illegal-immigration-united-states-taxpayers)

~~~
deogeo
I don't think it's fair to distill everything down to good if it grows the
economy, bad if it doesn't. For example, we keep hearing how oppressed
minorities are, but in the last ~35 years, a single generation, California
went from 66% to 37% white - is a 2% higher annual GDP growth worth becoming a
minority for?

~~~
sieabahlpark
I live in California, we are not doing as great as everyone thinks we are. We
have homeless, shit in the streets, stupid high rent, extra traffic, high
taxes, etc.

As great as it is to live here I think the state is actually going downhill
over time.

I also don't care what it does, if an illegal alien takes from the tax payer
that money could be spent on, oh I don't know, healthcare, homeless, VA, or
any other humanitarian purpose. I can walk outside and see a couple tents, I
drive to work I see dozens, I drive further and I see tent cities. Let's take
care of our own citizens first for once? Why not improve their home countries
instead of everyone coming here?

~~~
NotSammyHagar
I live in Seattle and there are similar problems. The homeless are all us
citizens. They don't have problems caused by immigration. I talk to these sad
souls frequently. Every day unfortunately I walk past them on the way to work.
I say unfortunate because I want them to have a place to live and not be on
the street.

They have nothing to do with illegal immigrants. These homeless people aren't
going to be working in a restaurant or other kinds of jobs immigrants often
do. In seattle the minimum wage is $15 an hour, that is not enough to attract
the homeless here.

~~~
sieabahlpark
You're dense, I said rather than spending $113b on the illegal aliens how
about we spend even if it's a fraction of "one hundred thirteen billion" on
the homeless problem. If they're all US citizens then you should feel
empathetic to help them more.

