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Mexico’s Growing Pains

By Joseph Parish

Everyone has heard the joke that says, “Our economy is so bad that truckloads of Americans are being caught sneaking into Mexico.” Well laugh if you must but the fact of the matter is there are already very sizeable numbers of both Americans as well as Canadians dwelling in Mexico. These numbers are all most certain to increase drastically in the future.

Mexico is currently the host country for one of the largest American expatriate communities in the world. Last fall saw the one millionth American established their residency in Mexico. That makes Mexico the home for more Americans then either the United Kingdom or Canada.

These Americans are not merely moving to our southern neighbor to live but also for such things as affordable dental work, various medical procedures or simply to obtain work. Due to the widening recession here at home many hard working Americas have experienced considerable numbers of job losses all across the nation. This fact alone has perpetuated the acceleration of almost 40 percent in the Americans currently inquiring about the residence requirements for Mexico. Every year these calculated figures increase greatly.

The idea of Americans moving to Mexico is far from new, however what is unique is the kinds of people who are undertaking these changes. Previously there have been three types of Americans heading to Mexico. Foremost were the retirees who were seeking a higher standard of living than they could possibly have in America due to their fixed income. As a result of this segment of population moving to Mexico many rest homes were built specifically for the elderly Americans and Canadians. Then you have the professionals who had to relocate due to business requirements. Lastly you had those individuals who were simply looking to start over. Falling under this category were those who desired to escape from alimony, business failures, child support, or those that choose to leave the United States rather then go to Vietnam and fight.

Now the Mexican authorities are seeing an increase in two additional groups of Americans. First there are those who are starting their family and want someplace to raise kids and gain an amount of acceptance. With the economic benefits of residing in Mexico a breadwinner can spend far more time with their wife and children then if they resided in suburban America. Family represents their greatest desire since they get to personally become more involved in their kids upbringing. The second group of people is the business entrepreneurs who are seeking greater opportunities then what America can offer them. There in Mexico they can readily find affordable manpower for new projects as well as an abundance of supplies that may be needed. Taxes are low in comparison with America and even our tax laws give these people a break.

Within the next 10 to 20 years it is likely that the number of Americans making their way to Mexico will perhaps triple. These results will particularly be noticeable if our economy continues to head downhill. So you can easily see that America is not the only country that is experiencing growing pains.