--- title: Mexicans Are Flooding Across the U.S. Border…for Cheap Gas description: Mexican drivers are streaming across the border into Arizona, Texas, and California in order to fill up cars with cheaper gas -- after a price increase in Mexico. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2017-01-12T17:15:33.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T12:09:03.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - border wall - Gas prices - gasoline - Mexico - u.S. borders word_count: 465 canonical: https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Americans Fuel Up On Cheaper Gas Over The Border Of Mexico](https://img.money.com/2017/01/mexicogaspricesborder-em-81745933.jpg) *In 2008, California drivers crossed into Tijuana, Mexico, to take advantage of cheaper gas prices. Lately, the reverse is happening, with Mexicans driving into the U.S. for cheaper fuel.* With less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in the White House, there has been a sharp increase in Mexicans streaming over America's southern border. They're not trying to sneak into the U.S. before Trump [builds the border wall](https://time.com/4631631/donald-trump-mexico-border-wall-press-conference/) he's promised, however. Instead, they're simply driving over to save money by fueling up at America's gas stations. Mexico instituted a price hike of about 20% to gas prices throughout the country at the start of the new year. The sudden price increases led to [looting and protests](https://time.com/4623319/mexico-gas-price-looting-blockades-unrest/) in some parts of Mexico, as well as run-of-the-mill frustration among drivers forced to cope with higher costs for fueling up. Predictably, many Mexican drivers in border areas have been heading into the U.S. to gas up and save some money, not unlike the way many U.S. citizens over the years have headed south to take advantage of cheaper prescription drug prices in Mexico. Mexican nationals explained to one [TV station in Texas](http://www.kens5.com/news/local/texas/mexicans-seek-relief-at-gas-stations-north-of-the-border-amid-price-hike-in-mexico/384606890) that they'll save 60¢ per gallon by fueling up in Brownsville, Texas, rather than across the border in their hometown of Matamoros, Mexico. Some drivers said that the fuel is higher quality in the U.S. too, and that they're tired of the long waits—sometimes an hour or more—typical at gas stations in Mexico lately. One gas station owner in the border town of [San Luis, Ariz.,](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2017/01/10/mexico-long-lines-gas-but-arizona-gas-stations-see-boon/96372578/) said he had mixed feelings about the boost in business from Mexican drivers coming into the U.S to fuel up at $2.18 per gallon, rather than $2.78 at home. "If you look at how badly jobs are paid in Mexico, and for gas to be more expensive in Mexico than here, it's ridiculous," he said. Detouring from Mexico into the U.S. is hardly quick or easy at some border areas. [*Bloomberg*](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-11/mexican-drivers-flood-into-california-for-gasolinazo-relief) reported that drivers in Mexicali face waits of four to five hours to cross into Calexico, Calif. After fueling up, it's been taking drivers another two hours to cross the border back into Mexico. Nonetheless, California gas stations near the border have been slammed with business thanks to the influx of Mexican drivers. One station reported as many as 10 cars lined up at time waiting to fuel up. Because of the heightened demand, the gas station has been forced to refill its own tanks once a day, compared to every three or four days normally. What may seem particularly crazy to most American drivers is the idea that anyone would head to California for cheap gas. The state is infamous for routinely posting gas prices at or near the [most expensive in the country](https://money.com/gas-prices-increase-california/). As of Thursday, according to [AAA](http://gasprices.aaa.com/), the average price for a gallon of regular was $2.81, second only to Hawaii ($3.05), and far higher than the U.S. national average ($2.35). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gas Prices", "item": "https://money.com/gas-prices/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mexicans Are Flooding Across the U.S. Border…for Cheap Gas" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/", "name": "Mexicans Are Flooding Across the U.S. Border…for Cheap Gas", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-01-12T17:15:33.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:09:03.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Mexicans Are Flooding Across the U.S. Border…for Cheap Gas", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/01/mexicogaspricesborder-em-81745933.jpg", "width": 3000, "height": 2000, "caption": "Americans Fuel Up On Cheaper Gas Over The Border Of Mexico" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-01-12T17:15:33.000Z", "description": "Mexican drivers are streaming across the border into Arizona, Texas, and California in order to fill up cars with cheaper gas -- after a price increase in Mexico.", "abstract": "Mexican drivers are streaming across the border into Arizona, Texas, and California in order to fill up cars with cheaper gas -- after a price increase in Mexico.", "@id": "https://money.com/mexico-gas-prices-border-gas-stations-cheap/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:09:03.000Z", "wordCount": 465, "keywords": [ "border wall", "Gas prices", "gasoline", "Mexico", "u.S. borders" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gas prices", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_prices" ] } ] } ] } ```