Now, comes the invasion
The custom of playing padel began with just a few American retirees. Currently, two dozen players fill the courts at the municipal sports center every morning. There are so many clubs in Mexico dedicated to this sport that a tournament was held in this city last year.
“It was an asylum,” said Víctor Guzmán, a 67-year-old businessman from Charlotte who helped organize the event.
Four times more since 1990
During the government of President Trump, the focus of attention is on the flow of migrants who cross the Mexican border into the United States. However, little is said about those who go the other way.
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The National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico revealed this month that the population born in the United States in Mexico is 799,000 people, an increase of almost four times since 1990. This figure is probably incomplete. The Embassy of the United States in Mexico City estimates that the actual number is 1.5 million or more.
The composition of the demographics of Americans in Mexico covers a broad spectrum; they are digital natives who can work easily from Puerto Vallarta as well as from Palo Alto; there are almost 600,000 children who have returned with their parents born in Mexico; they are retired, like Guzmán, who settled in this city five years ago and is now basically the king of paddle tennis in San Miguel.
While it is true that in the United States the population is polarized with the issue of immigration, Americans who have settled in San Miguel have been well received. Out of 100,000 city residents, 10% are citizens of the United States; Mayor Luis Alberto Villareal delivers his annual address on the state of the municipality in English and Spanish.
“Even though Trump insults my country every day, here we receive the entire international community, beginning with the Americans, with open arms and hearts,” Villareal said.
Mexican authorities believe that many of the Americans in San Miguel are undocumented. On this subject, the mayor says that “we never press them to have their documentation in order”.
“We like people who come to work because they help the economy, as do Mexicans in the United States.”
Source: el economista
The Mazatlan Post
