Passport Bros: Should They Just Go Extinct?
Unknown Artist, Teozacoalco, Mexico, 1580, via Artsy
Following my recent piece, “Gringo, Go Home”, where I explain why I reclaim the term “gringophobic” based on my experience as a Black woman from Colombia, and the deep distrust I feel, particularly towards white people from the Global North, I'm writing now to digg deeper into toxic, deadly masculinity and global disparity. Some white men cross the border into countries of the Global South countless times, committing crimes each time, without ever being prosecuted. Meanwhile, there is the injustice of undocumented people being deported from Gringolandia without having committed any crime. In short, impunity has everything to do with masculinity and white privilege.
Some readers of that piece—aside from those who commented “so much hate in your post” even though I was clearly addressing real cases of hate, crime, and violence (I’m not sucarcoating it)—argued that it’s not only white men from the Global North who come to the Global South with a sense of entitlement. They pointed out that they’ve also seen Black and Asian male travelers abusing power, backed by the privilege of their passports, and asked me to talk about the so-called “passport bros.”
The passport bros (short for passport brothers) are part of a social, cultural, and digital phenomenon that gained traction on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, particularly in the post-pandemic era. These men, mostly from the U.S., have become influencers by sharing tips and personal stories about seeking romantic partners in what they describe as “underdeveloped” countries. Their content includes intimate details about their relationships, breakups, and accounts of violence. When women under circumstances of abuse leave, these men then accuse them of becoming “too Americanized”.
Many of these men are part of the manosphere and identify with the “Red Pill” idea, and even have an official website: theofficialpassportbros.com. Unsurprisingly, they deeply despise women who demand respect and autonomy, and who have greater economic power than they do. Of course, they hate feminists. And while not all passport bros are criminals, it’s important to emphasize the harm they can cause even while staying well within the bounds of legality.
Passport bros are obedient sons of patriarchy. They might be white, Black, Arab, or Asian—but what unites them isn’t race. It’s the privilege of holding powerful passports that let them cross borders freely. These men often have fragile masculinities and toxic attitudes that women in their countries no longer tolerate. That’s why these incels from the Global North travel to countries like Colombia, Brasil, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria, etc., in search of romantic or sexual partners.
They claim that women from the Global South are more “traditional,” “submissive,” or make “better wives” than women from their own countries, whom they label as too “independent,” “materialistic,” or “difficult.” They idealize women they believe are more willing to accept unequal power dynamics.
Nonetheless, the passport bros are a harmful spectacle. They claim women in their countries are too materialistic and only love them if they act as providers. Still, if they genuinely wanted partners who didn’t need them as providers, they’d focus on becoming better human beings and find love at home instead of coming here to run emotional scams. And let’s be honest—what exactly makes them so special in the Global South? We have men here too, and even when dating local guys, most women aren’t willing—or able—to split the bill evenly. Needless to say, women from the Global South, those the passport bros seek out, also have “traditional” expectations. At the very least, they expect that a foreign man, who boasts about his (real or imagined) class privilege, can cover dating expenses.
Ultimately, passports bros’ problem stems from two things: their toxic masculinity is being questioned in their home countries, and they can’t afford restaurants in Europe or the United States. That doesn’t mean that they are looking for the most impoverished women of the Global South. The profiles vary widely. But passport bros often show strong narcissistic tendencies and refuse to date anyone who might “make them look bad.” They hold rigid beauty standards, and some—even in their ignorance—insist on spiritual or intellectual compatibility. In short, they want to feel superior to the women they seek romantic relationships with, but if such a woman doesn’t meet their aesthetic, educational, or career standards, she’s just not “good enough.”
White Privilege Amplifies Class Privilege
While these men often display highly questionable attitudes and reproduce colonial dynamics regarding racialized women from the Global South, whom they view as exotic and subordinate, things play out differently for racialized passport bros. A powerful blue passport or a favorable exchange rate doesn’t erase the fact that they’re still Black, Arab, or Asian. Even though they might be just as awful, they don’t enjoy the same levels of privilege or impunity, socially or legally, as white gringos.
For example, no matter where they’re coming from or going to, a Black man is far more likely to be subjected to excessive immigration scrutiny. Secondly, whenever they show entitlement here, even low-class locals have no hesitation in reminding them of their racial status in the most humiliating ways. And if the police get involved, race matters—nobody cares about the passport, and they won’t be treated gently.
Emotional Colonialism
Beyond the “race and profile” of passports bros, the priority should be building community strategies that help women, especially young women, spot them quickly. These men lack emotional accountability and have no interest in self-improvement, and that’s exactly why they come looking for partners here.
We need to recognize emotional colonialism: a form of domination that manifests in affective, sexual, and romantic relationships, where one party positions themselves as superior and seeks to extract validation, care, love, or emotional stability without taking responsibility or rethinking their privileges. Just as economic colonialism plundered natural resources, emotional colonialism drains time, affection, and energy, especially from racialized women. As bell hooks reminds us in her book All About Love: “Abuse and neglect negate love. Care and affirmation, the opposite of abuse and humiliation, are the foundation of love.”
We must talk about consent, ethical relationships; we must question racism, rethink desire, and critically examine power dynamics. As a society, we need to stop idealizing these relationships and romanticizing traditional gender roles. It’s essential to talk about power imbalances, especially economic ones, that often mask abuse. In defense of both the land territory and the body territory, as Lorena Cabnal teaches us, we must resist forms of extractivism, including the emotional ones. These behaviors must be named for what they are: manifestations of colonialism, even when committed by racialized men from the Global North.