Mexicans living abroad will be able to access Mexican government information in 15 Indigenous languages thanks to a consular initiative launched last week.
Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and the director of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME), Tatiana Clouthier, launched the Indigenous Languages Consular Protection Initiative last Wednesday.
At the launch event, de la Fuente “confirmed ongoing efforts to enhance protection for Mexican nationals in the United States by using Indigenous languages,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
The commencement of the Indigenous Languages Consular Protection Initiative comes at a time when undocumented Mexicans in the United States face a potentially higher risk of expulsion due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
The government has committed to supporting Mexicans at risk of deportation via its extensive consular network in the United States, and developed a plan called “México te abraza” (Mexico embraces you) to assist those sent home.
The SRE said that the Indigenous languages initiative “will reach Mexican communities worldwide, particularly in the United States, because safeguarding Indigenous languages directly protects their speakers.”
“… Foreign Secretary de la Fuente emphasized the ministry’s commitment to both preserving Indigenous languages and using them to advance justice,” the statement said.
“Messages in 15 Indigenous languages will be shown in Mexican consulates, embassies, and representative offices abroad,” the SRE said.
During remarks at the launch event in Mexico City, de la Fuente said that through the Indigenous Languages Consular Protection Initiative the federal government seeks to “better protect our compatriots” abroad and to “make Indigenous languages an instrument” that “helps us to be more effective in this task.”
The foreign minister also said it is “clear” that “there is still a lot to do so that in all spaces of the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry, both inside and outside the country, it is fully recognized that Indigenous languages are full of life.”
▶️Hoy, en la @SRE_mx, se presentó la campaña “Protección consular en lenguas indígenas” del @IME_SRE, cuyo propósito es fortalecer la atención a las y los mexicanos de pueblos originarios que residen en el exterior y promover la diversidad en las representaciones de México… pic.twitter.com/EP42i1G5oJ
— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) March 13, 2025
“… They carry knowledge accumulated from centuries of existence,” de la Fuente said.
He also said that “the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum is absolutely committed to the inclusion of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican people and communities in the transformation of the country.”
For her part, Clouthier said she was delighted with the commencement of an initiative that protects the rights of Mexicans abroad who speak an Indigenous language.
“I believe that something we should always feel very proud about is having the capacity to speak more than one language,” she said.
According to the SRE, Clouthier — a former federal economy minister who assumed the top job at the IME earlier this month — highlighted that “while 23.2 million people in Mexico identify as Indigenous, only 7.4 million speak their [Indigenous] language.”
“She emphasized that multilingualism deserves pride and noted the significance of ongoing work to preserve Indigenous languages,” the SRE said.
The ministry also summarized remarks made at the launch event by Alma Rosa Espíndola Galicia, acting director of the National Institute of Indigenous Languages.
She “congratulated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the IME for establishing communication channels with Indigenous migrants that acknowledge their linguistic and cultural characteristics,” the SRE said.
Espíndola “praised the Foreign Ministry for developing public policies promoting inclusion, linguistic justice, and protection for Indigenous migrant communities in the United States,” the ministry said.
A significant number of Indigenous Mexicans have migrated to the United States from states across Mexico.
Citing an Indigenous farmworker study, ABC7 reported in 2021 that “California is home to an estimated 120,000 Indigenous Mexican farmworkers from the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacán.”
A 2019 study published in the journal Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science found that people in Mexican communities “with relatively high Indigenous populations are more likely to migrate” to the United States “as undocumented rather than documented migrants.”
“We conclude that the concentration of Indigenous peoples in communities likely indicates economic and social disadvantage, which limits the residents’ possibilities for international movement,” the study said.
Mexico News Daily
