Mexican bishops express solidarity with migrants amid protests in U.S. cities

The Mexican bishops’ conference expressed solidarity with migrants “suffering persecution and violence” in the United States amid protests roiling Los Angeles.

The conference called for the “dignity and rights of all to be respected” as images of the protests — such as demonstrators waving of Mexican flags — along with arrests, capture attention south of the border and draw expressions of concern from the Mexican government.

“With pain and concern, we are closely following the complicated situation that has arisen as a result of the massive raids to detain undocumented migrants — and the protests in response that have taken place in Los Angeles, California — that have spread to other places,” said the statement, signed by Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcía of Matamoros-Reynosa, leader of the bishops’ human mobility ministry. Conference president Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca and secretary general, Auxiliary Bishop Héctor M. Pérez Villarreal of Mexico City, also signed the June 10 statement.

The statement cited Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who said, “We all agree that we don’t want undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals in our communities. But there is no need for the government to carry out enforcement actions in a way that provokes fear and anxiety among ordinary, hard-working immigrants and their families.”

Bishop Rugarcía continued, “The vast majority of undocumented migrants contribute to the good of the communities in which they live and work. … The solution to undocumented migration requires multiple joint-actions. Among them, an immigration system that allows things to be done correctly, without having to resort to other avenues that only end up complicating everyone’s lives.”

Protests erupted June 6 following raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in predominantly Latino parts of Los Angeles. Subsequent protests broke out in cities such as San Francisco.

President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard into Los Angeles on June 7 and mobilized some 700 Marines to join them. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would sue the Trump administration commandeering the state’s National Guard. “He flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalize the National Guard,” Newsom said.

A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, late June 10 declined Newsom’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order to restrict Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines. He set a hearing to consider California’s motion for a temporary restraining order on June 12.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said June 10 he would send National Guard troops to cities around his state ahead of planned protests.

The raids come as part of a promised Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration. The Wall Street Journal reported federal officials began focusing on places such as Home Depot stores, where day laborers gather, and arresting unauthorized migrants without criminal histories and those with records alike.

Mexico has traditionally expressed concern for the welfare of the approximately 12 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States, according to Spanish bank BBVA, which publishes an annual report on Mexican migration and remittances. Mexicans accounted for 45% of the estimated 11.3 million people lacking legal status in the United States, the Migration Policy Institute reported in 2022.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has spoken out in defense of Mexican migrants in the United States, saying that Mexican diplomats there have been providing consular protection. She lauded Mexican migrants as “hard working,” whose toil boosts the U.S. economy and remittances support families back in Mexico.

“Our position is, first and foremost, respect for human rights above all else. We do not agree with these actions that violate the human rights of migrants, which criminalize them, as if they were criminals. They are honest workers who contribute to the United States economy,” Sheinbaum said June 9.

Sheinbaum’s comments on U.S. migration enforcement have not gone unnoticed in the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said June 10 at the White House, “Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in LA and I condemn her for that. She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on.”

Sheinbaum denied inciting any protests in the United States, calling the accusations “false.”

“We have never called for violent mobilization,” she said June 11. “We have always been in favor of peaceful protests.”

Mexico’s discontent with U.S. migration raids follows Mexico stepping up its own migration enforcement — under U.S. pressure — to stop migrants transiting its territory from reaching its northern border with the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 8,383 migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in April, down sharply from the 128,895 encounters recorded in the same month of 2024.

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