“Mexico is now deporting Americans back to the US”Undocumented Americans moving to Mexico for a lower cost of living is causing inflation in Mexico.
In Mexico these American citizens are called “drybacks”
A study by the US state department has estimated that there are as many as one million Americans living illegally in Mexico. The figures, confirmed by Mexico’s national statistics institute, mean that 80 percent of the US expat population lack proper documents.
Thousands of US citizens are being questioned over irregularities in their immigration status, according to Mexican authorities. They face a modest fine – up to US$100 – if officials find them working without a permit or living in Mexico without proper documents.
An anonymous INM agent declared that 91% of Americans living in Mexico are “Illegal”
“There’re Americans living illegally in Mexico and all over the world. America’s a big country with lots of citizens who have passports that get them in almost anywhere with no paperwork required. Some of them hear some moonshine about XYZ place, set out, and either make out well and decide to stay (often oblivious to the fact that other countries have immigration laws) or crash and burn and find themselves broke and in a pickle with the authorities”, the anonymous agent said.
“There are probably thousands of US citizens living illegally in Mexico. That said, Mexican authorities aren’t very incentivized to round up illegally present U.S. citizens because they typically don’t compete with locals for jobs, don’t use public assistance, and bring foreign currency they spend in the country so they’re at worst a nuisance. In a perfectly fair world, laws would be enforced equally but the truth is that governments respond to political pressure and there’s no pressure to deport US citizen overstayers because more people benefit from their presence than are hurt by it”, the agent continued.
Americans that live in Mexico work remotely for American companies.
Many of course are remote workers and others recieve Social Security or other pension benefits, so as another poster stated they‘re not competing with locals for jobs, rather when their check hits the bank back home they just withdraw money from the ATM and pay their bills that way. And since it’s fairly easy to find an apartment with all utilities included the property owner pays the bills.
INM (Mexico’s immigration authority) doesn’t actively hunt down Americans living in the country illegally, but a few are caught by that agency at highway checkpoints where they check the ID‘s of bus passengers.