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    For Americans Living Illegally In Mexico, Life As An Immigrant Comes Easier

    About 1 million Americans live in Mexico, many of them illegally. But doing so is much easier than it is in the United States.
    Apr 26, 2017 5 minutes
    A U.S. flag flies near section of the border fence on the U.S.-Mexico border in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, in 2017. (Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)

    About 1 million Americans live in Mexico, and many of them do so illegally. But it’s much easier to navigate life in Mexico as an immigrant without proper documents than it is in the United States.

    Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson explores this with two Americans living illegally in Mexico City, who have firsthand experience with the differences.

    Editor’s Note: Here & Now agreed not to use our guests’ last names for this conversation.

    Interview Highlights

    On Eddie’s immigration story and the limitations of his status

    Eddie: “We moved to the U.S. when I was 5. We moved there with a legal visa, we ended up overstaying there. We were living there legally, and then we were living illegally for the rest of the time. I went to college there. I lived in California, so it was easier to get around that so long as you had a

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