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Paper short abstract

Based on 16 months of ethnography, this paper explores placemaking within the context of immigration for foreign remote workers in Mexico City. In particular, it will address how social stratification shapes attaining “good” residency pathways even within the hyper-mobile remote work community.

Paper long abstract

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexico City has risen to prominence as a global hub for remote work. Many remote workers with jobs, clients, and financial ties to the United States have relocated to Mexico City. The majority of these workers enjoy strong purchasing power and can easily reside in Mexico City, with or without formal residency visas. Concurrently, remote workers in Mexico City have been increasingly blamed for gentrification and the rising cost of living. Because of this, there has been tension around the ease with which remote workers are able to come and stay in Mexico. Against this backdrop, how do migrant remote workers make sense of their placemaking?

In this paper, I examine remote workers’ placemaking practices within the context of Mexican immigration. While remote workers are characterized by their mobility, the group is heterogeneous. Ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico City highlights both the ease with which remote workers can make long-term stays on tourist permits and stratification with attaining formal residency visas. Yet, it is clear that at local and national levels, Mexican government bodies have embraced various immigration pathways for remote workers. For many residents outside the community, the phenomenon is viewed with frustration within the broader lens of Mexico-U.S. migration; American remote workers receive “visas like candy” and Mexicans are unable to do the same. Ultimately, this paper explores remote work in the context of belonging, tourism, and migration.