Many Americans are leaving the states for Mexico City, which is angering some of the Mexican population there, the Los Angeles Times reports. Americans are capitalizing on the lower rents available, the cheaper standard of living, and the ability to stay in Mexico for six months without a visa. Locals are complaining that the areas where the Americans have settled have been gentrified, and traditional Mexican businesses have been turned into different ones that cater to Americans. The influx of Americans has contributed to an increase in rent and a change to English-speaking in some areas. According to the L.A. Times, writer and university professor Fernando Bustos Gorozpe said, “‘We’re the only brown people. We’re the only people speaking Spanish except the waiters.” There are 1.6 million Americans living in Mexico, according to the State Department, but it is unknown how many of those 1.6 million reside in Mexico City. Many of these Americans went south of the border because Mexico eased Covid restrictions prior to many states doing so. Alexandra Demou, head of Welcome Home Mexico, said she receives 50 calls a week from Americans looking to move to Mexico, according to the L.A. Times.
Many of the Americans moving to Mexico are California residents — a state that has seen its population growth decline for about the past 30 years. California is so expensive that the state’s residents are moving out and making parts of Mexico City too expensive for the Mexicans. Inflation will only drive out more Californians. The median price of a home in California is $797,470. CNBC notes that in the fourth quarter of 2021, only 25 percent of California households could afford that price for a home. Woke Californians apathetically driving up the rent for Mexicans in their own homeland is the ultimate representation of the ugly American.