Americans Voting from Mexico: "I'm from Texas, I have guns and I know how to use them"

A vote-by-mail ballot for presidential elections in the United States.

/ Europa Press

The vote by mail for the next American elections is being massive.

The influx of voters has been spurred by the proclamations of both the Republican and Democratic parties, which have baptized these elections as the "most important in history."

From Mexico, hundreds of thousands of citizens with citizenship are also called to vote.

Issues such as racism, police brutality, immigration policy or the management of the pandemic have already mobilized millions of voters, while Donald Trump seeks a second term and Joe Biden is presented as the only hope to end four years of turbulence and political outbursts.

Some Democratic voters, like Caroline Peifer, say they are not very enthusiastic about their candidate, but the determination is clear: "The truth, I vote for who is less for Trump."

• Migrants without the right to vote: "My dream was to vote in these elections to be part of the change"

A doctor who works remotely for the United States from Mexico, and who prefers not to give her name, declares herself a fervent defender of Trump's policies, for whom she has already voted.

“I'm from Texas, and yes, I have guns and I know how to use them [laughs],” he jokes.

This woman points to the economy as one of the things that Trump has managed best.

"It modified NAFTA, which has also benefited Mexico and Canada," he says.

He also has no doubts that the policy against the pandemic has been impeccable: "He banned international flights when it all started and thus he fought the disease."

But above all, she is a Trump supporter because she is not "someone who has always been in politics" and that distances him from the vast "corrupt" political majority in the United States.

He believes that his option will win thanks to the hidden vote, but he also thinks, "although I do not want it", that in two weeks there will be a civil war in his country: "I am convinced."

He went to live in Mexico in 2006, to have a "carefree" life, but if Trump wins, he will consider returning to the United States.

"Just the opposite of a lot of people right now," he says.

The number of Americans residing in the country of Lázaro Cárdenas varies according to the source consulted.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico, in a 2018 demographic survey, reflects that Americans represent 74.4% of foreigners residing in Mexico.

This amounts to a figure around 750,000.

However, other organizations such as the American Society of Mexico, raise that figure to two million, according to their website.

Peifer, who has lived in Mexico for 33 years, married a Mexican.

He resides in Cancun and is dedicated to interior design.

He is from Michigan, one of the decisive states where the working class of the great American automobile industry is concentrated, which in the previous elections supported Trump.

"I didn't like [Trump] 20 years ago, much less now," he says.

He believes that the management of the pandemic has been non-existent.

"They have no plans, they even denied their existence [that of the virus]."

He does not see in the Republican candidate a government option for the future because he does not see any direction in his term: "He is just talking, he has never proposed anything concrete," he says.

Although she lives in Mexico, Caroline's family is still in Michigan, and the polarization affecting the country has hit them as well.

"My brothers are Democrats, but my father voted for Trump, it is an issue that we prefer not to bring up," he says.

Among the Trump measures that have caused the most outrage in the United States is the tightening of immigration policy, which, in many cases, affects not only migrants trying to get there, but also full-fledged American citizens.

Amanda Burgner has lived in Michoacán for five years.

Like Peifer, she also married a Mexican, they had children in Washington, Burgner's place of origin, however, her husband did not have the proper papers and when he had to leave the country for a family issue and re-enter they caught him in immigration.

US law now prohibits you from returning to the US until 10 years have passed.

"We could have stayed, hoping that the immigration services did not catch us, but it is not too good to always be watching your back all the time."

She has voted for the candidacy of Biden and Kamala Harris, although she would have preferred that the candidate for the presidency was Bernie Sanders, from the most left wing of the Democratic party.

"His position on immigration is much more sensitive," but he says that between Trump and Biden, he has no doubts.

Racism and racial tensions are some of the things that most concern Randi Rubin, a young American of Mexican descent who came to live in Mexico City a year and a half ago from Los Angeles, California.

He is an arts teacher at an international school.

He left his country because he wanted "a change" and "what better time than the presidential election."

He claims to have suffered institutional racism himself: "They accused me of having stolen the bicycle that I had bought myself."

They detained him and until his roommate arrived with the purchase invoice, they did not let him go.

He was denounced by a classmate at the University, where he was one of the few Latinos there were.

He does not plan to return to the United States soon, but he is still visiting for Christmas.

"Maybe another president is about to be appointed by then."

"Yes, hopefully, hopefully."