If wetback is a pejorative term I apologise: it simply seemed the most succinct word.
Perhaps because the internet is US dominated there are many articles and discussions about how bad life has become for the average American. I don’t doubt the truth of this on an individual basis but I do wonder just how rational this is.
My question is - if things are really that bad, are Americans crossing over into Mexico seeking a better life? Or alternatively are people from Detroit flooding into Canada in hope of a better future?
Actually, I “fled” from Detroit to Chicago. Why would someone sneak across an international border and live illegally when it’s very easy to move from, say, Detroit to another location with a better economy? Yes, the economy in general sort of sucks, but there are always worse and better spots. On average poor in the US are no worse off, and in some ways perhaps better off, than poor in Mexico. Canada does have some advantages over the US, but many find the climate a strong negative.
There are quite a few Americans who retire in Mexico these days, to places like Lake Chipala. One attraction is how far the dollar goes, of course.
Now, these are typically not poor Americans who are bein pushed by economics to flee the US, but instead they seem to be middle to upper middle class Americans who like to live an upper class lifestyle on their retirement checks. I have no clue what the numbers of American retirees in Mexico are, my guess is that it would be somewhere in the six figures.
So many Americans are going to China to teach English that salaries and benefits
are going down every year.
Some of the schools are so flooded with applicants that the schools are taking advantage of the situation and refusing to pay salaries or honor contracts because they believe that teachers can be so easily replaced.
Last year for Halloween I was sorely tempted to go trick or treating with a raggedy cardboard sign that said “WILL TEACH ENGLISH FOR FOOD.” The only thing that stopped me was the the fear that the picture would end up on the front page of the Apple Daily (the same guys who do all the animations).
I, too, think the OP needs to request a title change. Not only because it’s a pejorative term, but because it’s imprecise. Is he asking if Americans are doing this legally or illegally? Everyone so far seems to be assuming the former, but the term “wetback” generally implies an illegal entry, although it needn’t always.
It has become an “offensive” word in *relatively recent years (25 or so?), but for many years it did not carry that connotation, and dictionaries did not note it as such. I remember an episode of “Green Acres” when they used the term, and I can’t imagine they’d use a similar term like “darky” or “chink.”
*Maybe that started changing when Mexicans and Hispanics started becoming a much larger presence in the US population?
It has always been somewhat pejorative, even if it may have slipped by in a TV episode. I recall it being mentioned by our teacher as a word we shouldn’t use when I was in 5th grade in about 1960.
In any case, let’s drop this side discussion. If you want to discuss the term’s degree of offensiveness, please open a new thread in IMHO.
There are other reasons, of course, why some US citizens choose to live temporarily or permanently in other countries like Mexico. Academics do long-term research there, people work for international NGOs – and, of course, companies like WalMart; people fall in love with a foreigner; etc
…and sometimes these US citizens fail to comply with Mexican immigration law (which is just as harsh, at least on paper, as US law – mainly to stem the flow of Central Americans to Mexico, though Mexico – like the US – will often look the other way when those Central Anericans do hard work for under minimum wage).
I’ve already addressed the use of this term. If you want to discuss the word “wetback” open another thread in IMHO or elsewhere. The next person who uses it in this thread will receive a warning.
Trying to get to the OPs real question which seems to be are there US citizens entering Mexico or other countries without customs inspection and approval and then working under the table?
The answer is no not in any real amount, because they don’t need to they just enter on their passport and overstay if that is there intention.
As for work under the table well in addition to the low pay if you could find I find its often HARDER to find the kind of off the books employment that is common in the USA in countries people might call third world.
Are non-Mexicans even allowed to own property in Mexico? I seem to recall that not being allowed to was part of a plot on King of the Hill once. Obviously TV shows don’t always get stuff like this right, so that’s why I ask.
