Our son-in-laws parents were born in Mexico. He flew down to a small "quite" village near Leon (200 miles NNW of Mexico City). We tried to talk him out of it ..... after we DID talk him out of taking our daughter and grand kids with him. It is the one year anniversary of his mother's death and custom requires that he and his siblings return to the church she was buried out of.
No problem...his cousins drive taxis and they will pick him up at the Leon airport. I told him if he got himself killed I would be very upset with him.
Well all twelve+ of them (some brought kids) were at his dads home for the last couple of days. Friday night they get telephone call asking for $1,000 from each of them or else..... Some viewed it as "a joke" and some did not. Two people in town had been shot and killed in a similar extortion a few weeks ago.
Got a call from our son-in-law from Chicago that he was in the USA and on his way home a few days early. Our daughter needs to pick him up when he gets into Detroit. He took it seriously and left the morning after the phone call.
So, people who look Mexican but come from the "rich" USA are not safe even in their family small home village.
I know a lot of SMBers still travel to Mexico.... BE SAFE!!!
That is exactly what he told his brothers and sisters. "I'm a father and a husband and that comes first". With that he got out the first thing in the morning.