Illegal Gringos

This past week the front-page headline of one of our local Mexican newspapers was "Gringos Ilegales" and the story continued:

• Jubilados norteamericanos trabajan ilegalmente en nuestra ciudad.
• Se introducen como turistas pero trabajan en el sector inmobiliario sin pagan impuestos

Roughly translated:

• North American Retirees are working illegally in our city
• They come in as a tourists but they work in real estate without paying taxes.

As best as I can understand the Spanish, the North Americans are collecting real estate commissions but they do not have an FM-3 that would allow them to work in Mexico. They come in on tourist visas and sell some real estate, they do not pay taxes and they return to the USA and then later come back and do it again. Mexican Professional Real Estate People are not happy with this situation.

We certainly know North Americans in San Miguel who are working in Real Estate here but all of them are very careful to follow the legal procedures. Most of them own property in San Miguel and they could be deported and lose the right to live in Mexico. But that sure doesn't mean that this story isn't true. Just like I feel if Mexicans live in the USA they are subject to the laws there, the same is true for the Americans who come here.

I do find it interesting that this story appeared at the same time that much is being written in the USA about Mexicans who are working illegally in the USA.