But as the group of U.S. nationals was settling into the cafe, a Spanish speaking couple seated at a table on the sidewalk had just got their order of an agua de fresa and smoothie bowl, enjoying the breezy 60-something degree weather.
A mariachi band stopped by to serenade the couple. At the same time, Demi Lovato’s '‘Cool for the Summer’' blasted throughout the cafe — competing with the mariachi’s melody.
Migration of U.S. citizens to Mexico isn’t new, said Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank focused on immigration policy.
What is new is the demographic of Americans moving to Mexico.
“More U.S. citizens, usually understood to be digital nomads, have been able to work from Mexico, get paid in U.S. dollars by their U.S. based companies and have better life conditions,” Ruiz Soto said. The number of remote U.S. workers is only a couple of thousand in comparison to the more than millions who live in the city.
Ruiz Soto added that Mexico and Mexico City officials are not deterred by the rise in “digital nomads,” noting that the country relies heavily on tourism.
In fact, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum last October partnered with Airbnb to increase the number of remote workers to come to the city. At the time, Sheinbaum dismissed concerns of rising rent prices, saying those who were coming were moving to areas where rent was already high.
But some of the backlash among locals with the rise of U.S. remote workers is based on social perception and perceived fears over the budding group of citizens moving to the country, Ruiz Soto said.
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