If you go to Mexico or Canadia you need a passport.
I have been to Mexico so many times I can’t count, but given the situation in their country now, I will not go again until they get the drug gangs under control. They own all the border towns and if you get outside of the tourist areas of Cancun or Puerta Vallarta, buddy you are in serious indian country. I am bilingual, but look like a balding Howdy Doody so I stick out like a sore thumb. Last time I went to PV we went with another couple. The wife of my buddy had a copy of her birth certificate and we were held up at the airport. A couple of 20’s got her in. We later laughed about having to bribe the Mexican official to get a gringo into the country. Seriously, Mexico has been a marxist country for 70 years and have no problem doing a smackdown on anyone including Americans. Reason is that the press never reports on it. Mexican or American.
I’ve been to Mexico City three times, but I had a Mexican bodyguard. No way would I go without one and now I wouldn’t go at all. I speak Spanish, too, and I love the people, the music, food, traditional dance, archaeology, architecture, and on and on. But that love grew before they forced themselves on us. I don’t feel the same way anymore.