Lost in America
I sit down with a Mexican friend who just returned from the United States to visit friends and family. They remarked something in passing that I have anecdotally noticed myself. After pressing further, I’ve realized this is an interesting topic worth sharing to you, even if it will rub people the wrong way.
This also comes at a time when a different friend of mine had visited the United States and was stuck within a commune of illegal migrants, all of whom are well-settled and have been living for sometimes three decades illegally. However, it was apparent to them both, having come from the wealthier parts in Mexico (and for Latin America) that they were mostly all of a poor, uneducated, loud or even rude, class. They both remarked that Donald Trump’s quote of “When Mexico sends their people, they’re not sending their best” was absolutely spot on true. The ones who remain less skilled, less motivated or perhaps less fortunate in life are the ones who seek to cross illegally whereas the top of their class, the ones with some land or saved capital, stay in Mexico. Mexico has been undergoing a reverse brain-drain and the USA have been the recipients of (generally) the, well, let’s stick with, not the best.
It sounds unpleasant to say but I sit down with Fernando to discuss further!
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Fern. Thank you for taking the time. So you returned from the undeclared territory of Mexico-America, where it’s in the continental United States, but only Mexicans live there ha! But you noticed a couple of things while you were there that others have remarked as well.
What have you noticed?
Yes, a whole other country. Mexican-Americans are in this weird position in society where they do not feel American, they do not associate with Americans, they do not shop American, they don’t live with Americans, many of them don’t even speak English and this is all true even if they were born there. They completely stay to their own. I guess that’s normal, but Mexicans have done so at the expense of never fitting in to their new country. At the same time, even though they really don’t do anything that your white family in Connecticut would do, they feel superior to Mexicans who live in Mexico. Sometimes you may hear them called Chicanos. These Chicanos may refuse to speak Spanish, reject Mexican music artists, clothing, traditions and all that to highlight their connection to the Americanos, but in reality, it’s a façade, they have no connection.
So what you’re saying is that they are lost in between two countries.
Exactly. They have grouped themselves off from ever fully integrating into USA society but at the same time, they have rejected the notion that they are still Mexicans. Mexicans often don’t even like them for this. So, they are unwanted by both! They’re Mexicans who hate Mexicans & call themselves American but act nothing like your average guy names Markus or Fred. In the middle.
I begin to wonder if that’s breading grounds, maybe 30-50 years from now for a new sort of territory or state in the future.
No, nothing will change. Most of them who make it have achieved a lot, or rather, many items that they never would have if they stayed in Mexico. Many of them are from poor, poor places that don’t bid many luxuries in life. USA is the consuming capital of the world, so they don’t care if they have their own flag or territory or whatever, they just want a nice car and dollars. It’s not 1800 anymore, man!
Do you have any comment on Trump’s quote regarding Mexico not sending their best people?
Honestly, I had a moment of staring into space and for whatever reason, that quote came to mind. I don’t even follow US politics or Trump quotes, Biden or anything… but without sounding like too big of a… how to say, rude person… it’s true.
Why is this?
I don’t think it may be true as of today in 2023 and 2024, since most people crossing the border aren’t even Mexican, but in years prior the people who crossed were illegals. So you must ask the question why would they be illegal? A pretty simple explanation:
The people who cross are the Mexicans who have no skills, no money or assets, no education, no real connections or resources, no experience, no nothing. Which means that when you put these people up against your average Mexican, they really have nothing to offer. The result is that they’ll remain poor as long as they stay.
As I said, they have no money so they’re not going to spend thousands and thousands of pesos on legal fees and waiting to enter the USA the legal way–besides, why would the USA accept them? What are they going to say on their application? A person with a university degree is automatically a better applicant–the legal way.
Rather than lose time and money & remain without anything amongst the poor of poor, they cross illegally with the idea of earning USD. They’ll send some back to whoever helped them afford the cost to cross, but they’re able to earn more.
But, once they cross they need to get work, how are they going to do that?
Ah trust me man, they don’t have that problem–especially if they have relatives who did it decades before them. They know someone who knows someone. They’ll–yea, that’s not a problem. It’s not like they’re constrained by what they can do, they’re illegals!
I even know of some gringos who love hiring illegals for cash for the cost savings. It’s not all bad I suppose but when you’re open to doing anything, you’ll find something.
Again, the people who had the skills to stay in Mexico are the ones who pick their path forward. They choose between medical school or law school. The path forward for the illegal types is just poverty. You choose between poverty or working a labour-intensive job but not being poor anymore.
How has inflation impacted this? Because if the average American is suffering, how the heck is it even worth it anymore? What are they doing where they have anything leftover to send back to Mexico?
I can’t really name numbers, but I was talking to someone who is illegal and they said that at first they were enticed by the big dollar signs coming in but they failed to calculate how much it costs to live in the United States *facepalm*. You can see that they’re not going to pocket much difference at the end of the day but they just see the big incoming number (and not the outgoing). From afar its like watching someone go over a waterfall.
Do you think Mexicans will continue to move to the United States? I have seen statistics where they are tending to stay in Mexico more often & the people going are Central and South Americans.
Yes, I suppose so. But Mexico is a big country–it is the 12th most populated country on the planet I believe. You have to realize that the small towns that I spoke about do not necessarily act upon the changing tides, they just want to swim [for money]. They’ll continue to head North if I had to guess.
What are your thoughts that Mexico will eventually conquer the United States?
They already have haha! I don’t think officially, like a flag change or anything, but look at the number of Spanish speakers throughout the country now, look how many people have relatives in USA, there is a connection by blood in many ways and Mexicans tend to have more babies–even if its not on purpose haha!
Do you think Mexican drug organizations are also conquering US territory?
I don’t know, I know they have a presence but I don’t know about sizes or who does what, where, etc. I can’t really comment on that. But there’s definitely more Mexicans living in Texas than there are Texans living in Mexico. So, maybe?
Do you have any thoughts of Mexicans getting the blame for a lot of the migrants living for free in the United States? People saying there’s too many Mexicans! Send them back!
I know! Tall skinny black men are the new Mexicans I guess. I saw some people getting upset about it but Mexicans are more upset about the crime & gang stuff that comes with it rather than being blamed for it. They have communities in the United States. Even if they may not “feel” American or if they’re in the middle like you say, it’s still their home! Proud to be a Mexican-American.
Haha well, this is all very interesting and I’m sure our readers had learned something! Hopefully too many aren’t offended by anything. Thank you for taking the time to have this chat.
#StayOnTheBall
