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Floradude

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Using 12.5/$1 vs. 17.5/$1 would indicate that prices have gone down. I've been watching wine prices at Costco since Sept. 2014 and they haven't changed at all. I buy the same "house wines" every month, one from Chile and one from France and there's been NO change. Maybe the fresh stuff such as US beef and European cheese have gone up.

Agree. Once again, my concern is about their Mexican customers being priced out of the market and Costco having difficulty continuing to operate here. We make up a small part of their customer base!

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It's not only Costco that has raised prices. I occasionally shop at other supermarkets as well: Superama, Chedraui, and Walmart. Prices in all three of those stores have skyrocketed since the end of the year. Higher prices are standard and expected every January 1, but this time, prices have gone up approximately 20% since the first of the year--not gradually, but in one fell swoop. It's actually quite shocking. One very small example: I buy Scoop-Away cat litter. At Costco, throughout 2015 the price was 207 pesos for a 19-kilo bag. Right now, the price is 507 pesos.

Most of my friends are well-educated middle-to-upper-class Mexicans whose money is not in dollars but in pesos. They are horrified and frankly, frightened at the implications this devaluation (although the government insists that it is not a devaluation) has for their own wallets, and are further insulted and extremely concerned about the government's complete lack of care about what will happen to the many, many who are already living in poverty.

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It really isn't a devaluation as the peso has remained fairly constant against most other currencies, ie. $CD. There really isn't much a government can do about another currency growing stronger than theirs as all measures are temporary and later the piper must be paid. The most effective way would be for Mexico to impose high tariffs on American products but since it signed NAFTA that cannot be done. Consumer boycotts of American products might have some effect but what are the chances of that? I suspect the Chinese stock market debacle has a lot of people dumping their remembis and fleeing to dollars. Europe is a mess except for the GB Pound so you have lots of people standing in line to buy dollars and whenever lots of people want the same product or the same currency, the price goes up. What goes up must also come down but lots of people have lost lots of money thinking they can guess which direction things will go.

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It really isn't a devaluation as the peso has remained fairly constant against most other currencies, ie. $CD. There really isn't much a government can do about another currency growing stronger than theirs as all measures are temporary and later the piper must be paid. The most effective way would be for Mexico to impose high tariffs on American products but since it signed NAFTA that cannot be done. Consumer boycotts of American products might have some effect but what are the chances of that? I suspect the Chinese stock market debacle has a lot of people dumping their remembis and fleeing to dollars. Europe is a mess except for the GB Pound so you have lots of people standing in line to buy dollars and whenever lots of people want the same product or the same currency, the price goes up. What goes up must also come down but lots of people have lost lots of money thinking they can guess which direction things will go.

Nothing goes in one direction forever! A few years ago the $CDN was worth more than the $USD, now $1USD buys $1.40CDN. The Euro was worth $1.45US, now $1.09. The $US has gone up, the others, including the Peso have not gone down. There's been no "devaluation" of the Peso.

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I was at the PV airport noontime yesterday. There were more than 20 planes on the board that arrived in a single hour from all parts of the US and Canada. The place was a total zoo with people everywhere getting taxis to spend their dollars.

An increase in tourism will certainly be a boost to the Mexican economy.

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Nothing goes in one direction forever! A few years ago the $CDN was worth more than the $USD, now $1USD buys $1.40CDN. The Euro was worth $1.45US, now $1.09. The $US has gone up, the others, including the Peso have not gone down. There's been no "devaluation" of the Peso.

Exactly....

The overvaluation of the US dollar against the world's major currencies, is not a Mexican "devaluation". The price of gasoline, propane, electricity, is holding firm or going down in peso price. Many staples such as milk, domestic cereals, etc., have not risen in price and many middle and low income class Mexicans do not shop at the big supermarkets for imported products. Cat litter is not a big item for these Mexican's shopping list. Even in the Chapala area, services such as barbers, doctors, mechanics, tradesmen have not risen. A few domestic items will always rise in price due to shortages caused by weather conditions or other factors, such a some produce.

The adverse effect of the overvalued US dollar on the Mexican economy is "over exaggerated".

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Exactly....

The overvaluation of the US dollar against the world's major currencies, is not a Mexican "devaluation". The price of gasoline, propane, electricity, is holding firm or going down in peso price. Many staples such as milk, domestic cereals, etc., have not risen in price and many middle and low income class Mexicans do not shop at the big supermarkets for imported products. Cat litter is not a big item for these Mexican's shopping list. Even in the Chapala area, services such as barbers, doctors, mechanics, tradesmen have not risen. A few domestic items will always rise in price due to shortages caused by weather conditions or other factors, such a some produce.

The adverse effect of the overvalued US dollar on the Mexican economy is "over exaggerated".

Price increase's in the area have never needed the excuse for PESOS devaluation, if you shop you will observe that prices continue to increase each time you go to buy "something"...you mention milk, seems not too long age you could buy a liter for 8 pesos, not any more

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Price increase's in the area have never needed the excuse for PESOS devaluation, if you shop you will observe that prices continue to increase each time you go to buy "something"...you mention milk, seems not too long age you could buy a liter for 8 pesos, not any more

1.89 liters of Sello Rojo leche entero at Walmart has been 24 pesos for well over a year, maybe two, back when the peso was 12.5 to the USD.

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The GREAT majority of Mexican immigrants NOB are doing work that gringos don't want to do.

I can't imagine an influx of gringos coming here to work for low wages doing hard labor.

That wasn't the point. Read my post again and from your experience answer the questions. And also ask yourself this: If U.S. employers couldn't use and abuse illegals with low pay and bad working conditions would they have to pay and treat people better if they wanted workers?

Contrast the situation in the U.S. versus Canada for the answer to that one.

After living here for 8 years I see no indication whatsoever that Mexico would tolerate wholesale illegal immigration if the shoe was on the other foot. Nor should they.

I don't even have to speculate on that, all I have to do is look at how they deal with immigrants from the south of their own border.

As I said, I think Mexico's approach to immigration is the right one. They clearly put Mexicans first. America does not put its own citizens first. They put greedy business people and corrupt politicians first.

I also don't think that any country is entitled to have open borders in one direction only.

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MC,I'm not sure what point you were trying to make.

I spent 30 years working with hundreds of Mexican immigrants in construction,none of them made the trek looking for a free meal.

What I objected to was your insinuation that those immigrants were looking for a free ride.

It's a complicated issue and maybe having friends and family in their position makes me a little biased.

Maybe bringing back the Bracero Program would help,because let's face it there are a lot of jobs that US citizens just won't do.

Then again maybe they could get a job building that border wall that Mexico is going to pay for..

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MC,I'm not sure what point you were trying to make.

I spent 30 years working with hundreds of Mexican immigrants in construction,none of them made the trek looking for a free meal.

What I objected to was your insinuation that those immigrants were looking for a free ride.

It's a complicated issue and maybe having friends and family in their position makes me a little biased.

Maybe bringing back the Bracero Program would help,because let's face it there are a lot of jobs that US citizens just won't do.

Then again maybe they could get a job building that border wall that Mexico is going to pay for..

I didn't insinuate anything. I listed a series of questions asking about how Mexico would deal with the border situation if the immigration shoe was on the other foot. Can you answer yes to any of them?

Here's another one: How would Mexico react if a bunch of immigrants marched on their soil waving the American flag and insulting Mexico repeatedly?

I am addressing the rather glaring difference between how Mexico handles immigration and what is going on at the U.S. border these days.

And I'm asking you, is it reasonable for Mexico to expect or feel entitled to a one way border? I'm not asking you about what Mexicans do or don't do when they get there. That is another matter and another topic.

Even so, if you see that as justification for ignoring U.S. immigration laws, why shouldn't we expats who bring a lot of money into Mexico and employ a lot of Mexicans get to do the same? Why do we have to jump through the hoops instead of just being allowed to cross at will without documentation or any proof of self sustainability?

I'll tell you why. It is their country and they get to make the rules. Or change them if they want to.

Why shouldn't the same apply to the U.S.?

You might find this enlightening:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/10/migrants-mexico-invisible-journeys/

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Here's another one: How would Mexico react if a bunch of immigrants marched on their soil waving the American flag and insulting Mexico repeatedly?

I get that.

I don't like it when Mexicans wave their flag and protest immigration issues on American soil either.

The hundreds of Mexicans I worked with didn't do that,they just made a hazardous journey, left their families and homeland to do hard work to support their family.

Their government failed them.

I simply can't blame them for wanting to provide for their families,I would have done the same.

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I'm not blaming them. I'm blaming the U.S. government for not being as willing to watch out for their own people, language and culture as Mexico is. Mexico has it right. My problem is the hypocrisy of anyone or any nation of feeling entitled to an open border in one direction only.

People up there are getting pretty testy about this topic and I think rightfully so. Mexico ignores this at its own risk. American citizens have a legitimate concern about this situation. It isn't just about Mexico or even just about the U.S. southern border. There is too much immigration up there and not enough jobs to go around. Some of these greedy companies are abusing visa programs to import foreigners who are used to replace laid off Americans at lower pay.

When Americans blame Mexicans or immigrants in general, that is when they get it wrong. Where the blame lies is very clear and it isn't on the people who are behaving in an economically rational manner and taking advantage of the situation.

Xena, you missed any reference to Chris specifically because it wasn't there and I didn't accuse him of that. We are both writing in generalities here. Please don't read things into my posts that aren't there. Thanks.

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Not all parts of the US resent immigration. In PNW areas we could not live without the Mexicans in many areas of employment. A few years ago anti mexican attitudes reached a peak and the mexicans did not show up to harvest the crops and many of them failed. Our children don't want these jobs. My mother says she couldn't survive without the mexicans to help her as she is 85. She can't even get local kids to mow the lawn. Now I know the US is a big place and things are different all over but some areas are grateful for the labor of the mexicans. You might not want to believe me but its true in the PNW and its far beyond farm work.

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Isn‘t it also interesting that most of the complaints seem to come from parts of the USA that were once Mexico. Maybe they fear La Reconquista Pacifica, which is probably inevitable with time. The only solution would be to eliminate the US Welfare system for able-bodied workers, a la CCC, etc., in combination with a strict guest worker program where necessary.

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My ancestors immigrated from Scotland and Wales for the same reasons Mexican and other nationalities do,oppurtnities and economics.
I loved the quote by Ann Richards former Texas governor.
"If you build a fifty foot high wall on the border some Mexicans will come along with fifty one feet high ladders".haha.

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Xena, you are putting words in my posts again. Please reread and correct your question to reflect what is actually written, not your personal projections. For example, there is no mention of a specific Mexican government agency.

However, since you raise that point you may recall that in 2006 the Mexican government did publish a guide that while much of it covered safety and survival, some of it dealt with how to keep a low profile once in the U.S.

https://www.dallas.org/content/mexicos-official-guide-mexican-migrant

See "things to avoid."

So thanks for bringing that up. As for the "you" that is the generic you unless I am putting questions directly to Chris.

Now cb is it safe to assume your relatives entered legally? Did they feel entitled to enter?

I think we are at an impasse here because it seems to me you are avoiding answering the questions. You do give me the impression that you think the double standard is OK for economic reasons.

Hence you may find this interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-ryo-immigration-20141126-column.html#page=1

A couple of really interesting parts here:

The other is that from their perspective, wealth is a prerequisite to entering the U.S. legally, that our system is biased toward people who can afford to pay their way in.

How is that different from the Mexican requirements of we expats?

More prospective migrants might be willing to wait to enter legally because they recognize that fair policies are in place that will give them an opportunity, rather than the current system, which operates on this very hypocritical basis of [wanting] undocumented immigrants to satisfy our labor needs, and at the same time denying them legal status. In some ways, that's what enables them to engage in this kind of behavior, [because the law] doesn't seem logical or rational.

Absolutely true. The hassle the Mexican government gives expats about a few cars doesn't seem very logical or rational either.

They have a strong sense that it's legitimate for sovereign nations to control their borders to keep out quote unquote bad people, but that their behavior doesn't come within that sphere of regulation — that their violation doesn't amount to that kind of threat to national sovereignty.

Of course it does. And I submit to you that the Mexican government views it this way hence their much more rigorous and Mex-centric approach to immigration.

There is no longer a labor shortage in the U.S. The data show that over the last 7 years, basically all the gain in employment has been "soaked up" by immigration while at the same time the percentage of the population working has fallen to 30 year lows over a very short period of time.

Unemployment or underemployment is hitting the young the hardest in America. The situation among black Americans is far worse. Immigration, legal or otherwise, is contributing to a labor surplus that results in growing poverty in the American working class, particularly those on the bottom.

Americans have a right to question why the country should continue to accept immigration from Mexico when the latter seems to have one set of rules for itself and another for the U.S. The longer this is ignored by both countries the greater the back lash is going to be IMO.

Just as Mexicans have the right and the duty to put their country first, so do Americans. No one should be surprised that the people NOB are waking up to this and that changes are on the way.

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