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The One Million Person Lie

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

One thing you will see everywhere when reading up on Mexico is the oft told lie that one million Americans have retired there. This is the bandwagon approach to promotion, e.g. get on the Mexico band wagon, one million Americans cannot be wrong. Travel guides and promotors repeat that figure constantly. Even a casual look reveals these headlines:

Nearly One Million Americans Living in Mexico

One-Million Americans in Mexico Can’t Be All Wrong

Why Are One Million Americans Moving to Mexico?

Over one million Americans living happily in Mexico

The Great Escape: Are One Million More Americans Moving to Mexico?

The problem is that it is just a big lie. The government of Mexico requires all foreigners living in Mexico, either full-time or part-time, have visas. Records of these visas are maintained and published by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migración(INM), which is National Immigration Institute in English.

Not only are there not one million Americans living in Mexico, there are not even one million foreigners from all nations living in Mexico. In fact, in 2009 there were 262,672 foreigners registered as living in Mexico with any form of visa, and less than 60,000 of them were Americans.

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"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

One thing you will see everywhere when reading up on Mexico is the oft told lie that one million Americans have retired there. This is the bandwagon approach to promotion, e.g. get on the Mexico band wagon, one million Americans cannot be wrong. Travel guides and promotors repeat that figure constantly. Even a casual look reveals these headlines:

Nearly One Million Americans Living in Mexico

One-Million Americans in Mexico Can’t Be All Wrong

Why Are One Million Americans Moving to Mexico?

Over one million Americans living happily in Mexico

The Great Escape: Are One Million More Americans Moving to Mexico?

The problem is that it is just a big lie. The government of Mexico requires all foreigners living in Mexico, either full-time or part-time, have visas. Records of these visas are maintained and published by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migración(INM), which is National Immigration Institute in English.

Not only are there not one million Americans living in Mexico, there are not even one million foreigners from all nations living in Mexico. In fact, in 2009 there were 262,672 foreigners registered as living in Mexico with any form of visa, and less than 60,000 of them were Americans.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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