Signs and wonders
2 August 2022
Is there anywhere on the planet that migrants are universally welcomed? While usually it’s less-privilidged economic migrants who bear the brunt of this sort of rejection, the bourgie “expats”seem shocked that they are seem for what the term “expat” really is… a nice way of saying “economic migrant with more money”.
Where I lived before (Texas) it wasn’t uncommon to hear or see unkindness towards migrants by those who saw outsiders as a threat to the status quo. Why is anyone shocked that there are people here with the same kind of attitude, seeing migrants from foreign cultures as a unwanted intervention in their lives?
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The Mex Files 
I think when foreigners are rare, they’re generally a curiosity rather than a plague, and people who want to be one of a handful of foreigners or the only foreigner, in a place want to assimilate. The foreigners who come to places because of other people like them are colonizing, not assimilating. Being able to raise house prices and rent really doesn’t endear foreigners to neighborhood where the original neighbors are being priced out. It’s gentrification that doesn’t speak your language (which is why those signs are in English).
I think the Xenophobia is worse now than it was 50 plus years ago. Now being fed by the propaganda machine .
Back in the 60’s any gringo who was here for extended periods was suspected of being c.i.a. Even my wife jokingly mentioned it. I told her…if I am then they owe me a lot of bck pay.
I have to say that while I’ve heard tales of such things, I’ve never seen them myself. It’s true that there are more Gringos wandering around Roma/Condesa/Cuauhtémoc than I’ve ever seen. But I have yet to have anyone complain to me about them. I like to think of myself as a special case, since I’m fully fluent in Spanish. But who knows what they’re saying behind my back.
In any case, the argument about Gringos pushing up rents and prices in CDMX doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny. Since the plague descended, many people have left CDMX and there’s a TON of real estate, persistently for sale. And there’s a handful of “for rent” signs on every single block. This wouldn’t happen if the foreigners were snapping things up right and left.
Indeed, I often wonder if my seller got the better end of the deal when I bought her properties.
Saludos,
Kim G
Roma Sur, CDMX
Where finding an interested plumber is proving tricky.