Most of Tamaulipas has long been controlled by Mexican drug lords, and the police force is meager.
Four U.S. citizens abducted at gunpoint in Mexico a week ago have been recovered and two of them have died, Mexican and U.S. officials have confirmed.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) previously stated that after the four drove from the town of Brownsville, Texas, to the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico on March 3, Kidnapped by unknown gunmen. Family members told the US media that the four were going to Mexico to undergo plastic surgery.
Mexico’s gang crime problem has long plagued the country’s government and the United States, but hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens still regularly travel south to buy cheap medical care. BBC correspondent Angélica Casas explains why medical tourism in Mexico is so attractive.
Frontier towns like Matamoros are among the most dangerous in Mexico. Drug cartels control much of Tamaulipas, sometimes outwitting local law enforcement.
However, these small towns are the preferred medical tourism destinations for tens of thousands of Americans. Some of them cannot afford health care on American soil.
“Medical shoppers,” especially those familiar with the area, have learned certain defensive techniques, such as registering their cars in Mexico so that they can change to Mexican plates after crossing the border, reducing the chance of being targeted. They also avoid wandering on foot in these small towns.
Prices and distances are similar, making Mexico the number one medical tourism destination for Americans.
The kidnapping of four Americans by the gunman was caught on camera by bystanders.
“It’s all about economics,” said Prof Néstor Rodriguez, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in immigration.
“Medicine and services are cheaper in Mexico, especially dental surgery. You can have teeth cleaning and implants at a fraction of the price in the United States.”
He also pointed out that patients can find a level of care here that is comparable to that in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people about getting sick from medical procedures in Mexico.
According to the Mexican Council for the Medical Tourism Industry, nearly 1 million Americans travel to Mexico each year for medical care.
Taide Ramirez, 58, a U.S. citizen born in Mexico, has been traveling across the U.S.-Mexico border for more than a decade to get cheaper treatment for hypothyroidism. The Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras border crossing is a 2.5-hour drive from her home in San Antonio.
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Scholars pointed out that the quality of medical services in Mexican border towns is not inferior to that of the United States, and the prices are affordable.
Although her employer has health insurance for her, the employee co-pays are much more expensive than what she would have paid in Mexico, she said.
She told the BBC that she usually sets aside a full day to travel south and has never had an incident.
Even so, she still has some safety concerns. She will not cross the border at night, and when she enters Mexico, she will only go straight to the clinic and then return home.
She said: “I will definitely not go alone, I will always call my sister or my son.”
And for many border cities, medical tourism is one of the fastest growing industries.
In Nuevo Laredo, a few hours northwest of Matamoros, there are dozens of dental clinics and hotels for travelers on the region’s two main transit roads.
Just a three-minute drive from the San Diego border crossing to Tijuana, Baja California. Here, a 33-storey medical facility opens in November 2022.
Tijuana’s New Urban Medical Plaza is just steps away from the Mexico-US border.
NewCity Medical Plaza, billed as “the world’s best medical tourism facility,” offers more than 30 specialty services, including plastic surgery, as well as hotels and shopping malls.
Citing crime and kidnapping, the U.S. State Department has recently advised citizens not to travel to Tamaulipas, saying buses and cars are easy targets. The United States has also issued travel advisories for other Mexican border states.
While some border towns have become increasingly hostile to immigrants and asylum seekers trying to enter the United States, attacks on U.S. citizens remain a minority. Professor Rodriguez said the kidnapping of four Americans and the killing of two was “unreasonable”.
But it’s still a reminder that the U.S.-Mexico border isn’t all that safe. “I never went again,” Professor Rodriguez said.