"In the colorful town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with its temperate weather and stunning architecture, people spend their days relaxing on park benches that front La Parroquía, a towering neo-Gothic church of pink stone, which sits in El Centro, the center of town. People lose themselves strolling along the famed cobblestone sidewalks or grabbing a taco streetside and popping into a café. In the last few years, since Trump's first term, a growing number of these people have been American immigrants."
"The Americans who've recently relocated to this breathtakingly beautiful city are not the typical white retirees drawn to this magical place in the 1930s and after World War II. Today, they are a Blacker, queerer, politically left-of-liberal group who say they moved to free themselves from an American idealism they no longer agree with or, in some cases, feel afraid of."
"Not long after, Kennedy's husband, John, a musician and composer of classical music and opera, had gone to his brother-in-law's funeral in Papua New Guinea. When John came back, he told his wife he'd witnessed people living normal, beautiful, easy, dignified, and happy lives outside of the United States. The decision was made then and there to leave."
San Miguel de Allende offers temperate weather, striking architecture, and public life centered around La Parroquía and cobblestone streets. Since Trump's first term, a rising number of Americans have moved there. These newcomers differ from earlier white retirees and are disproportionately Black, queer, and politically left-of-liberal. Many migrants describe leaving to escape American political polarization, ideological conflict, or fear, and to find affordability and creative freedom. Rozella Floranz Kennedy lost her DEI job after Trump's reelection, sold her Seattle house, and moved with her husband and dog. Lower housing costs and a calmer daily life renewed their creativity and well-being.
Read at The Nation
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