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From the archive: How Mexico’s Day of the Dead helps us remember the people we’ve lost
The goal of our “From the archive” series is to revisit popular stories that capture the unique history and culture of life in Mexico. This Sarah DeVries article — originally published in October 2019 — shows us how remembering lost loved ones can be a colorful celebration of life, love and the memories that keep them with us.
Day of the Dead is by far my favorite holiday in Mexico. My first experience with it was in 2002, when I was here as a university student.
The director of my study abroad program here in Xalapa piled a few of us into his pickup truck and we drove to Naolinco, a picturesque mountain town known for its leather products.
I was immediately enchanted. Altars were all over the place — in people’s homes, in public spaces, in restaurants and stores. As we walked along the street, people invited us into their homes for tamales, bread and homemade wine.
There were carolers at the cemetery. Carolers! With guitars! The brightly colored petals and exquisite smell of cempasúchil, “marigolds,” were everywhere.
Since then, Day of the Dead has caught on north of the border as well. Even before the popular movie “Coco” came out, the southern Texas city I return home to was starting to embrace its Mexican heritage in more expansive ways than it ever had before, with altars, decorated skulls and papel picado, “colorful tissue paper with designs,” suddenly appearing alongside Halloween decorations.
Real-life ‘Mamá Coco’ remembered with altar in Michoacán
Who knew that the dead could bring us together?
Each year in my home we set up our altar with the same enthusiasm with which we decorate the Christmas tree. As the years pass and more people we know and love die, we’ve had to switch to a bigger table, as our collection of dead has grown.
My grandmother is there, as is my mother. Traditionally, the flower petals are to be sprinkled from the altar to the front door so that the dead can find their way back home from the other side to enjoy the offerings laid out for them.
My grandmother, in life, would not have appreciated her place on the altar. Like many Protestants of a certain age, she was suspicious of the “magical” elements mixed in with modern Catholicism.
Day of the Dead is, of course, a mixture of Catholic and Indigenous tradition, one that the Spaniards were only partially successful at co-opting. At least they got to move the dates to the ones they wanted. (I like to think that my grandmother, now on the other side, would be totally cool with it.)
Death is a universal reality, and all cultures have different ways of dealing with it. When I was growing up in central Texas, death was taboo, something no one wanted to talk about; it was sad at best and terrifying at worst.
Halloween was a time not to think about the dead we knew, but to have fun dressing up and getting candy (and subsequent cavities). When I learned later of the history of Halloween from pagan tradition to Catholicism’s version, All Saints’ Day, I felt decidedly more creeped out.
Why should we spend any time at all thinking about death? How uncomfortable!
Why you should celebrate Halloween with a Guillermo del Toro binge watch
How to confront death
My attitude since has evolved considerably. Now that I’m an adult, death has moved closer and closer to me in the form of the passing of actual people I’ve known and loved, and in the reality and certainty of my own mortality as the years go by.
I’m hopefully still a long way from it, but none of us really knows, do we? For something that’s such a firm fact of life, we sure do avoid thinking about it a lot.
Mexicans don’t (as much), and I think there’s something to be learned from that. We can accept that we’re going to die. We can paint skulls on our faces to remind all of us that life is for the living — that we won’t be around forever, so we’d better get to it!
What does Day of the Dead do for us? It keeps the memories of our loved ones alive. It keeps this culture alive and reminds us of the people we came from. Feel guilty about not thinking enough of your loved ones that have already passed on? Don’t: remembering to do that is built into an annual holiday here.
I am not religious myself. I don’t pretend to know what happens after death, though as an agnostic I fully expect that we simply cease to exist in the way a flame from a candle goes out. As Richard Dawkins has said, we know that consciousness is wrapped up in the brain, and we know that the brain rots, so I have no illusions.
To me, this news is not too disappointing, as I’m fairly certain that, as a dead person, I would not have the consciousness to care. Disappointing would be getting to that point of not existing and not having done anything worthwhile.
That said, I do believe that there is a way to keep our dead alive, and Day of the Dead helps us to do that. Because while they might not still be around, they live on in us, and this holiday helps us remember that in an active way. The ways they shaped us, influenced us, taught us and loved us live on.
Death is sad. We don’t usually wish for it, but learning to accept it and not fear it (at least not too much) is a worthy exercise. Celebrate, remember and love your dead. Sit and chat with them a while.
Share some hot chocolate, some tamales, some pan de muerto, play their favorite music, decorate your face the way their faces look now.
Welcome them back, at least for a couple of days, and celebrate your own beating heart.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
Mexico’s week in review: Farewell to Cárdenas, a resignation at the INE and a record-breaking Catrina
The headlines of the week in Mexico began with news of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s reelection in Brazil, which left President Claudia Sheinbaum “very happy” and, in her words, was “a breath of fresh air” for Latin America and the Caribbean.
But at home, Mexico’s governing political movement Morena suffered another setback as the resignation of National Electoral Institute (INE) president Guadalupe Taddei raised fresh doubts about the integrity of figures tied to the government, even as Sheinbaum insisted Morena is not to blame. Meanwhile, the opposition National Action Party (PAN) announced six presumptive gubernatorial candidates for the 2027 elections.
This week also brought the death of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a towering figure of Mexico’s democratic transition. And as the country heads into Day of the Dead (and Formula 1 Grand Prix) weekend, Sheinbaum called on new generations to preserve the holiday’s traditions.
Didn’t have time to catch Mexico’s top stories of the week of Oct. 26? Here’s what you missed.
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas dies at 92
Cárdenas, a three-time presidential candidate and the son of President Lázaro Cárdenas, died in Mexico City on Wednesday. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for more than 30 years, he left the party in 1987 and ran in 1988 as the candidate of a left-wing coalition. He is widely believed to have won that election, but Carlos Salinas de Gortari was declared the winner. Cárdenas went on to co-found the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), contested the 1994 and 2000 elections, and served as Mexico City’s first elected mayor from 1997 to 1999.
Sheinbaum called him “a man of steadfast principles,” and Thursday’s mañanera centered on a tribute to him. Asked what he leaves the Mexican left, she answered: “Honesty and democracy.” A public tribute with his coffin present was set for Friday at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. His son Lázaro Cárdenas Batel is Sheinbaum’s chief of staff.
INE president resigns; Sheinbaum weighs in
Guadalupe Taddei announced her resignation as INE president on Sunday after media outlets, including Reforma, reported that companies tied to businessman José Alfredo Hernández Casillas, with whom she reportedly has a close personal relationship, won lucrative INE contracts. She is the first head of the INE or its predecessor, the IFE, to resign since 1990. The Federal Auditor’s Office has opened an investigation, and Taddei said: “Each allegation must be examined with evidence.”
On Monday, Sheinbaum called the resignation “good” and said an audit was needed. On Tuesday, she pushed back on journalist Carlos Loret de Mola’s claim that “Taddei is Morena,” noting that the Chamber of Deputies, not the president, chose Taddei, who was picked by lottery in 2023. By Thursday, Sheinbaum went further, saying she believes Taddei “betrayed the trust of the people of Mexico.” She also said her government will propose turning the state-run printer Talleres Gráficos de México into a state-owned company to supply most electoral materials. The INE’s focus remains the June 6, 2027, elections.
IMSS workers promised 8% raise
After weeks of protests, Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) director Zoé Robledo presented a plan of 12 actions in 120 days. It includes an 8% salary increase, permanent positions for almost 11,000 temporary workers, 2,500 new specialist doctors, more than 18,000 additional beds and gurneys, and a push to guarantee medicines and clear the surgical backlog. Whether it satisfies workers, and ends shortages that have outlasted earlier government efforts, remains to be seen.
Dog poisonings rattle Condesa
Poison hidden in sausage left in and around Mexico City’s centrally located Parque España killed at least three dogs Tuesday, prompting an animal cruelty investigation. The toll later reached four. Attorney General Bertha Alcalde Luján said tests found methomyl, a highly toxic insecticide, in capsules placed inside the meat, and authorities recovered 14 suspect pieces.
On Friday, police arrested a 58-year-old man, identified as Salvador “N,” a block from the park after he resembled a person in images circulating on social media. He was detained for resisting arrest, and prosecutors cautioned that they had not yet established whether he was responsible. Residents are avoiding the park, and Cuauhtémoc borough Mayor Alessandra Rojo de la Vega urged pet owners not to let animals eat anything off the ground.
Guadalajara water plan and allegations of torture
On Wednesday, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus announced a “historic agreement” with the federal government to invest 25 billion pesos (US $1.33 billion) in Guadalajara’s water infrastructure. The plan centers on two new aqueducts, from Lake Chapala and from the Calderón Reservoir, due by the end of 2028. The federal government will contribute 14.5 billion pesos and Jalisco 10.2 billion, and Lemus promised no new debt, privatization or rate increases. The announcement followed large protests demanding clean tap water.
The Oct. 11 protest in particular remains contentious. Two women, among around 10 people who have filed complaints with the Federal Attorney General’s Office, allege they were tortured by Jalisco state police. At least 39 people were arrested and dozens hurt. Lemus has conceded “serious mistakes” were made, Security Minister Juan Pablo Hernández denied ordering force and Sheinbaum has repeatedly denounced the alleged torture.
Citizen scientists make their mark
In Michoacán, residents who spotted unusual marks in a streambed led researchers to at least 50 dinosaur footprints near Apatzingán. The National Institute of Anthropology and History believes the Late Cretaceous tracks were left by three types of dinosaurs and says further study is needed to pin down species.
In Tabasco, residents of Barra de Santa Ana are working to restore coastal dunes. A 30-member community brigade trained by Eni Mexico and UNESCO will replant vegetation and install sand catchers. Erosion has hit 85% of the 30-kilometer coastline between Boca de Santa Ana and Boca de Panteones, and up to 3.5 meters of shoreline are lost each year.
Sheinbaum moves to keep Mexico’s masterpieces at home
Following the Gelman Collection controversy, Sheinbaum plans to strengthen the Monuments Law to prohibit the permanent export of privately owned works declared artistic or historical monuments. A preliminary draft was published Oct. 15. The change would reconcile the law with 10 presidential decrees protecting works by artists including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The timing matters, as the Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to the 1984 Kahlo decree.
Day of the Dead highlights
- Mexico City’s cempasúchil production hit a record 10 million plants, up 53.8% from last year, grown mainly on Xochimilco’s chinampas.
- The capital unveiled the world’s tallest Catrina in the Zócalo. At 33.4 meters, the papier-mâché figure tops Puerto Vallarta’s 2023 record holder and is the city’s fifth Guinness record this year. The offering is on display through Nov. 3.
- At Friday’s mañanera, held amid marigolds and Catrina figures, Sheinbaum described the Mexican view of “death as part of life” and said the holiday has “recovered” from Halloween’s influence, partly thanks to films like “Coco.”
Mexico City unveils world’s tallest Catrina for Day of the Dead
Economy: Exports surge, growth slows and India talks begin
Mexico’s economy grew 0.9% in the third quarter from the previous quarter, down from 1.4% but above the 0.7% economists expected. Year over year, growth of 3.2% was the largest in 12 quarters, helped by a weak third quarter in 2025.
Exports, meanwhile, reached US $77.79 billion in September, up 37.9% and the third-highest monthly total on record. Over the first nine months, exports rose 30.4% to $627.19 billion, driven by computer and electronic equipment sold to the United States amid an AI data center boom. Mexico posted a $9.25 billion trade surplus, but its oil deficit of $25.68 billion already exceeds the 2025 total.
On the trade front, Mexico and India signed terms of reference on Monday for negotiations on a preferential trade agreement. Merchandise trade between the two totaled $8.74 billion in 2024, and a Mexican business mission to India is under discussion for early 2027.
Charlyn Corral makes history at the Ballon d’Or
Pachuca forward Charlyn Corral, 35, won the Gerd Müller trophy for Best Striker of the Year at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, becoming the first Mexican woman to earn the distinction. She scored 49 goals in 49 matches for club and country and shared the honor with Harry Kane.
In her acceptance speech, she also asked the audience to recognize compatriot Scarlett Camberos, who was among the 30 nominees for the main award.
Looking ahead
Whether Jalisco’s 25 billion-peso water plan will be enough to keep Guadalajara’s streets calm is an open question. The two aqueducts are not due until the end of 2028, work “could” start next year, and the Oct. 11 allegations of police abuse remain under investigation, so residents may be left with promises rather than clean tap water for some time. On trade, Sheinbaum agreed with Donald Trump that a deal with the United States is “very close”, and on Wednesday she said talks were advancing as both sides weigh whether an interim agreement is possible before U.S. midterm elections next Tuesday, Reuters reported. Mexico is still seeking a “significant reduction” in U.S. tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, while Washington is pressing concerns over automotive content and Chinese investment.
Even a pre-election deal would leave questions for the next Congress, according to an opinion piece in The Hill by Duncan Wood and Ivan Zapien. They argue that a change in control of Congress would not end U.S. pressure on Mexico over trade, migration and security, but a Democratic House could summon officials, scrutinize the USMCA talks and push for tougher labor and environmental enforcement, while Republicans keep pressing on energy and China. Either way, they write, Mexico should expect to answer to more of Washington, more often, after the U.S. declined in July to extend the USMCA for another 16 years.
Mexico News Daily
This story contains summaries of original Mexico News Daily articles. The summaries were generated by Claude, then revised and fact-checked by a Mexico News Daily staff editor.
Why I’m grateful my son is getting the Halloween-Día de Muertos experience I never had
The funny thing about growing up in California with Mexican immigrant parents is that you are perpetually intimate with, and distant from, your Mexican roots. Every holiday season, therefore, becomes a delightfully unique interpretation of both cultures mashed together.
Tamales wrapped in banana leaves and filled with turkey for Thanksgiving? Opening gifts at midnight for Noche Buena, and then again on Christmas morning? Getting your face smashed into a birthday cake?
These are all welcome in my life as a Mexican-American who must constantly toggle between my two identities on both soils.
Sometimes, though, one cultural norm or ideology can overtake the other, leaving one half egregiously overlooked, if not completely erased. For me, that has always been the case with Día de Muertos.
Halloween was the festive U.S. tradition my household embraced in its most suburbanized form: dressing up as Ninja Turtles, trick-or-treating with pumpkin-shaped buckets, and devouring pounds of Jolly Ranchers, fun-sized Snickers and M&Ms for weeks after.
I’ve never been the king of spooky season, but I’ve also never avoided it. As I grew older and met my wife, our family Halloween tradition became dressing up in custom-made outfits that reflected our personalities or the region we lived: two high school teachers dressed as our favorite punctuation marks; two Boston post-grads dressed as the local subway trains. (Spoiler: this year we are dressing up as Chedraui employees.)
And yet, despite traveling to Mexico regularly throughout my life, and having immigrant parents who spoke Spanish and were connected to their roots in Veracruz in different ways, I don’t have any real Día de Muertos memories from my childhood.
Finding the tradition
It wasn’t until the 2010s that I recall the concept entering mainstream culture in California and elsewhere beyond Mexico. For my wife and me — both as a couple, but also in our respective Mexican-American upbringings throughout the 1990s and 2000s — we never experienced our parents or family members building altars in our California homes. Not until maybe around Pixar’s “Coco” (2017), that is.
That tradition has quickly spread. Within the past decade, it has become more commonplace to see altares, ofrendas and Día de Muertos-themed households worldwide. Of course, it existed long before “Coco,” but it wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is today.
When my son was born in 2023, my wife and I had already spent significant time in Mexico, including traveling to Oaxaca for a month during Día de Muertos season and fully immersing ourselves in its wondrous spirit of parades, parties and gravesite visits.
We had learned, while exploring Mexico’s vast regional scenes and lodging with family members in various states across the span of multiple summers, about the importance of Día de Muertos as a form of intimate ancestral remembrance. In contrast to the candy-collecting rampage we’d always known the end of October to be, we’ve been able to incorporate those important elements of Día de Muertos into our lives — and in our son’s understanding of this time of the year.
Now, having fully transplanted our lives to Veracruz, we get to experience the best of both worlds as a young family: the playful, goofy costumery and decorations of Halloween, combined with the artisanal charms and spiritual connectivity of Día de Muertos.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Building core memories
Undoubtedly, our son’s autumnal memories will be completely different than ours: Instead of knocking on doors in a cul-de-sac with a group of neighborhood kids, he’s going to a field of cempasúchiles in a mountainous pueblo to get his photo taken on a horse that is whimsically painted like a calavera. Instead of visiting the pumpkin patch and riding a train through cornstalks and bales of hay, his abuela and bisabuelo are coming over to our house to eat pan de muerto and build a collective family altar with photos of family members that he, or even I, will never meet.
Each has their own joys and core-memory-building functions, and I enjoy them both. I hope he does, too.
It’s true that our current community doesn’t offer much traditional Halloween vibes, in the Americanized sense. You may see a decorative witch or black cat dangling from a window, here and there. Earlier this week, I walked past a large inflatable ghost on someone’s balcony, but it was awkwardly angled to avoid the mess of wires that complicate our narrow, colonial streets.
It’s just a different atmosphere in these smaller Mexican cities and towns, and the sidewalks don’t really allow for large groups of children to roam around without parents losing their minds over incessant traffic safety.
Trick-or-treating vs. Día de Muertos parades
In 2024, we flew to Mexico City for Halloween and Día de Muertos. It was noticeably different from our experience in Veracruz. A local group of parents organized families online for a neighborhood walk, with designated homes that had registered in advance, so we knew who would be giving out candy.
Similarly, we went to a mercado in Mexico City that weekend for a “calaverita” — a Mexican version of trick-or-treating, where kids dress up and go stall to stall asking for treats.
In those instances, my son, wife and I got to experience some of that old-school Americana by walking around Mexico City with strangers — some, but not all of them, international — and knocking on doors (or wandering shop aisles) together. That version of Halloween offers a communal, neighborly bonding that isn’t always seen during other holidays, which more often than not take place inside homes with close family members, rather than out in public and in the streets. We certainly could use more of it.
Then, there’s the other side of it all: attending a Día de Muertos parade and being part of a collective throng of spectators, while ceremoniously dressed performers and various forms of alebrijes dance, flutter and chant around you. (It’s worth noting that Día de Muertos parades, like the one in Mexico’s capital, are relatively new traditions in many areas; they weren’t commonplace when I was growing up, but are a part of Día de Muertos’ increasing popularity.)
I’m glad my son will get to be immersed in those cultural experiences in ways my wife and I weren’t for Halloween.
Fusing traditions in an ever-connected world
Having access to those dual experiences is a life hack, really. That’s not to say that Halloween has never existed in Mexico, or that Día de Muertos is nonexistent in California. In each case, the cultural traditions are becoming more fused than ever before, largely thanks to social media, travel access and other global factors.
You no longer have to be in Oaxaca’s Centro to experience Día de Muertos, nor do you have to reside in a U.S. suburb to appreciate Halloween. Depending on where you are, you may not be able to fully replicate the magic of the other — but you learn to salvage whatever aspects you can.
By being in Mexico, we are reminded that we will always have generous access to, and understanding of, both celebratory worlds. That’s ultimately the beauty of being a Mexican-American binational family, no matter the seasonal holiday or time of year.
Alan Chazaro is the author of “These Spaceships Weren’t Built For Us” (Tia Chucha Press, 2026), “Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021), “Piñata Theory” (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album” (Black Lawrence Press, 2019). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and was selected as a Lawrence Ferlinghetti Poetry Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His work can be found in NPR, The Guardian, SLAM, GQ, L.A. Times, and more. He is currently based in Veracruz.
Do Mexicans celebrate Halloween? It’s not what you’d expect
I have to be honest here. Growing up, I did get excited about Halloween parties at school.
Although some colleagues might be flabbergasted by this, as a kid, my friends in elementary school did organize trick-or-treat evenings — which were mostly about the treats, honestly — and children invited each other to their houses to play dress-up and paint their faces as pumpkins and skeletons.
However, for the November festivities, my family always made a point to put a special emphasis on building our Día de Muertos altar at home. It kind of felt more important, in a way, than just getting your pumpkin or vampire disguise. Still, as the air grows colder and the moons appear larger at night, the question arises: Do Mexicans celebrate Halloween? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than you might expect.
When the barrier between the two worlds grows thin
As the November festivities draw closer, you might come across the debate on social media. More nationalist and opinionated Mexicans will defend our millennia-old traditions over the hyper-Americanization of our fall festivals. Incidentally, there is a similar debate among our fellow countrymen regarding why pan de muerto should only be eaten during this time of year, and we have discussed it at length on MND before.
And the people who share this point of view do have a point. Setting up the altar for the dead, waiting for our deceased relatives to return and share a meal at home once more, is something we inherited from our parents, who in turn inherited it from their grandparents, and so on.
The pre-Hispanic roots of this ritual are enough to warrant an article in their own right — covering the spiritual light of the cempasúchil flower and the way the barrier between the two worlds seems to grow thin at this time of year. But that is not all. Although it is a custom with distinctly Mexica origins, it manifests in widely diverse cultural ways across the country: The massive ofrenda created annually at UNAM is vastly different from the long nights people spend in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, awaiting the return of their departed loved ones.
We even have a word for them: nuestros muertitos, our beloved deceased. The suffix -ito or -ita in Mexican Spanish implies not only a diminutive form, but also a relationship of affection and respect inherited from Nahuatl -tzin, the honorific suffix used for high-ranking officials as well as for our mothers and fathers.
In preparation for their return, we prepare the favorite foods of our dearly departed — like mole de olla for a dear auntie, or the Diet Coke my grandma used to enjoy so much. Some people leave cigarettes for a brother who has passed away, or even traditional candies like Pulparindo or Pelón Pelo Rico.
So, yeah, you can see how these festivities might weigh a lot more on us than simply going trick-or-treating. Why then, why do we see children running around dressed as skeletons, ghosts and pumpkins as Oct. 31 approaches?
Día de Muertos vs. Halloween: Is there a disagreement about this in Mexico?
First of all, it is worth emphasizing that Mexico is an incredibly culturally diverse country. Even taking into account the legacy of the Mexica Empire — which spread many Day of the Dead practices across the nation — and the overwhelming influence of contemporary globalization, one cannot truly generalize about how the tradition is observed throughout the country. To do so would almost be disrespectful to the 68 official Indigenous languages (with their 364 linguistic variants) and the unique ways in which each culture shows respect and affection for its departed loved ones.
What I mean by this is that there is no single way to celebrate Day of the Dead in Mexico — or Halloween, for that matter.
That said, how right Porfirio Díaz was when he said that Mexico was very far from God, but very close to the United States. Given the geographic, commercial and political proximity we share with our northern neighbors — who are increasingly coming to share our country with us — it is only natural that Mexicans also join in the Halloween festivities.
We love dressing up, eating candy until we’re stuffed and having an excuse to run through the streets dressed as pumpkins. Who doesn’t, right?
Why the answer is complex
We could easily say, however, that both celebrations coexist today — and even engage in a dialogue. On more than one occasion, I have seen jack-o’-lanterns on Día de los Muertos altars. You can even hear children on Oct. 31 asking, “¿Me da mi calaverita?” — the hyper-Mexican version of “Trick or treat!”
Now, while all this is true, it would be somewhat simplistic to say, “Yes, in Mexico we celebrate everything.” Although it is true that we never lack reasons to throw a party here, the reality is that Halloween celebrations are more of a recreational activity than a cultural one. Day of the Dead is something we collectively look forward to and honor with greater solemnity — ranging from our intimate family traditions at home to the grand public displays we see in the streets year after year.
So yeah, if you ask a Mexican if they celebrate Halloween, they’ll probably say they do — but that they observe Día de Muertos.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to set out a Coke for my grandma; she’s on her way back from the other side.
Andrea Fischer contributes to the Mexico News Daily Features desk. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams anthropology. Or yoga. Or both.
Yet another Mexican national dies in the custody of ICE: A perspective from our CEO
Last week, 56-year-old Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a Dallas resident of decades and lawful green card holder, died at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo, Texas. His daughter says staff at the center would not give him his heart, diabetes and blood pressure medications, and that he told her they ignored him when he reported trouble breathing and tightness in his chest. The Webb County Medical Examiner is performing his autopsy, and no cause of death has been released. He is the 18th Mexican national to die in U.S. immigration custody or during enforcement operations since January 20, 2025.
For those of you keeping track, that is 15 deaths of Mexican nationals in custody and 3 during enforcement operations — 18 in total since Trump took office for a second time. Human Rights Watch counted 52 deaths of people of all nationalities in ICE custody in the 500 days between January 20, 2025, and June 4, 2026, roughly three a month. AFP reports that at least 30 people died in U.S. migrant detention centers last year, the most since ICE was created.
It’s easy to write off the 18 deaths as statistics or soundbites in the daily news cycle. It’s easy to say they were “criminals that shouldn’t have been here in the first place.” So let’s look at the facts, drawing on a recent profile conducted by CNN.
- All 18 were men. The youngest was 19, the oldest was 68.
- Some had spent decades in the U.S. ICE says one entered in 1976, and another had lived here about 35 years, worked in construction and had three U.S. citizen children. Andrade-Covarrubias lived in Dallas for decades. Others arrived recently: ICE says one entered in 2022 and another in December 2023.
- ICE’s own descriptions of their records vary widely. One was sentenced in 2005 to 20 years for attempted sexual contact with a minor. Others were detained for driving without a valid license, littering or public intoxication. For several, CNN’s profiles cite no criminal charges or record.
- The 17 deaths CNN profiled occurred in at least 8 states. This suggests a pattern rather than a single “bad cop” or rogue department. The Department of Homeland Security denies that deaths in its facilities have increased and says detainees receive proper medical treatment.
There are an estimated 38 million people of Mexican origin living in the U.S. today. Given the current environment in the country, many in this community have a relative, friend or neighbor who is living in fear or has been mistreated.
Latino voters also helped elect the current administration. Trump won 46% of the Latino vote in 2024, according to exit polls, up from 32% in 2020. Pew research finds that approval among Latino voters who backed him has since fallen 27 points, to 66%. These figures cover Latino voters broadly, not Mexican-Americans specifically.
The key issue I am raising here is about how people should be treated.
This is not about whether one belongs to the left or right political party, or about opposing border control. I am not suggesting that a country shouldn’t enforce its borders. Of course it should. The border has not always been secure, and immigration policy has often been applied inconsistently or unfairly, if at all. Those convicted of crimes should be punished. Overstaying a visa is a violation of federal immigration law and should have consequences.
The issue is how people are treated once the government has them in its custody. Many Americans who agreed that “something needed to be done” have been repulsed by ICE tactics in their communities. U.S. politicians have not agreed on updated, sensible immigration policy in decades. But whatever the policy, a person in federal custody is the government’s responsibility. We have all read about ICE signing bonuses, hiring sprees, pressure to meet arrest quotas, the lack of collaboration with local authorities and expedited, insufficient training.
Consider the reverse. If one American were dying in a foreign government’s custody nearly every month, we would expect State Department warnings, a drop in tourism and a damaged reputation for that country. The comparison is not about crime or illegal migration. It is about deaths in the custody of a state. That is why Mexico’s government has demanded investigations and filed criminal complaints with U.S. prosecutors.
Many readers will hear “Americans killed in Mexico” and think of drug violence. That is a different matter. These deaths happened in government custody, under government responsibility. That is the standard we would demand for our own citizens abroad.
Neighbors, not enemies
Many Americans have Mexican neighbors and workers they value and live alongside. Many of those same Americans now feel anger over rising costs and failing institutions and leadership, on both the left and the right. In recent polling, nearly eight in 10 Latino voters said they were “very concerned” about the cost of food and consumer goods, above the roughly two-thirds of Americans overall.
Directing that anger at each other is a mistake. Americans can be forgiven for being overwhelmed by inflation, gas prices, interest rates, midterms, job-loss fears and AI risks. But whatever our views on immigration, we should not lose sight of how people are treated while they are in the government’s care.
What you can do
- If you are an American living in Mexico, try to understand the anger that locals might have towards the United States. Mexicans are watching their citizens die in U.S. custody, and their government has condemned the deaths and begun filing complaints with U.S. prosecutors. That anger is aimed at a policy and likely at government officials, not at you. It’s important to listen and acknowledge their frustrations.
- Write to your senators and congresspeople. Tell them the “how” of enforcement matters: medical care, transparency and accountability for deaths in custody are minimum expectations. Our immigration policy needed to change. Most people accept that now, but roughly three people dying in federal custody each month should make us all ask what is going on.
- Write to MND. We invite you to write us about how you see this issue where you live, or experiences you have had talking to locals in Mexico about this issue.
I sincerely hope that this will be seen not as a Republican or Democrat issue but one of basic human rights and decency, and as a result, be acted on quickly before there are more tragic incidents.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
New episode: The real story behind Mexico’s record exports
Mexico’s exports are booming. In fact, in July they increased by 44% compared to last year, and are up almost 28% year to date. Mexico is now firmly the largest exporter to the United States, ahead of Canada and China.
One would think that kind of growth would be exceptional for Mexico and its economy. But is it really as good as it sounds?
A few reasons for caution:
- The growth is concentrated. Electrical and electronic equipment, including AI servers, jumped 134% in July and overtook autos for the first time. Auto exports are roughly flat this year, and oil exports are down.
- Imports are booming too. They are up about 26% year to date and grew 45.7% in July, producing a rare monthly trade deficit. Imports from Taiwan have more than tripled. If imports are up as much as exports, what is Mexico adding?
- Value added is thin. An estimated 3 cents of every dollar of electronics exports is Mexican added value, roughly a tenth of what Mexico adds in the vehicle segment.
- The economy isn’t keeping pace. Mexican GDP is generally expected to grow only 1.2%-1.5% this year, well below the U.S. growth rate.
So what is really going on, and what does it mean for Mexico?
Check out this week’s “Confidently Wrong” podcast as we dig a bit deeper into the numbers for a better understanding of the real implications.
Confidently Wrong: Made in Mexico | Episode 11 - Season 3
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
How CFE plans to raise a billion dollars to expand Mexico’s electrical grid
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) plans to raise approximately US $1 billion through a share offering in CFE Capital, its financial subsidiary.
The objective is to attract capital from domestic and foreign investors to finance new transmission lines. The private investment will supplement the government funds budgeted to CFE.
CFE Capital operates through a structure similar to a real estate investment fund known as Fibra E, which allows investors to share in the revenue generated by infrastructure assets.
CFE Chief Financial Officer Eugenio Amador Quijano told Bloomberg Línea that officials will meet investors in New York early in November, with the intention to finalize the offering before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
According to Quijano, the state-owned company aims to expand its electricity transmission network by nearly 7% during the current administration, compared to growth of less than 1% over the previous eight years. It also seeks to facilitate the integration of new power generation projects, including the 32 gigawatts planned by 2030.
The CFE considers the new lines necessary to connect power generation plants with consumption centers and to meet growing electricity demand.
In August, CFE Capital requested authorization from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) to conduct a follow-on public offering in Mexico, accompanied by an international private placement. This offering would be a new issuance, following the initial public offering (IPO) in February 2018, which raised 16.4 billion pesos (US $880 million).
However, the vehicle remained virtually inactive following its market launch, as the CFE did not subsequently expand its portfolio of transmission assets or carry out any new offerings. Over time, liquidity declined, and ownership ended up primarily in the hands of Mexican pension funds.
For this new transaction, the CFE aims to place approximately one-third of the securities with foreign participants.
If the new operation goes through, the transaction would be the largest public offering of shares in Mexico since 2020, Bloomberg reported.
The projected capital raising is part of a broader strategy. According to the Energy Ministry, the CFE’s strengthening and expansion plan includes investments totaling nearly US $37.5 billion.
Within that program, the transmission segment accounts for approximately US $6.9 billion through 2030, of which nearly US $2.5 billion would be channeled through CFE Fibra E.
The $1 billion currently envisioned would, therefore, represent a portion of the required financing.
Canadian ambassador’s message to Mexican business: Invest in us
Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Cameron MacKay urged the Mexican private sector to increase capital investment in Canada, emphasizing the necessity of “rebalancing the asymmetrical bilateral investment flow” between the two North American partners.
Speaking during an investors symposium panel entitled “Unlocking the Next Trillion: Mobilizing Long-Term Capital for Regional Development,” the diplomat noted that although Mexico has considerably improved its investment conditions, risks and uncertainty persist.
(Milken Institute)
MacKay pointed out that approximately US $66 billion has been deployed by Canadian manufacturers, corporations and institutional investors into Mexico, while Mexican companies have invested only about US $3-4 billion in Canada.
Insisting that Canada offers favorable conditions for attracting new investments, MacKay outlined several key competitive advantages, including Canada’s 6.4% marginal tax rate tailored specifically for new projects, which the ambassador described as “very competitive.”
“That’s half of what it is in the United States and the lowest in the OECD,” he said, referring to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, of which both nations are members.
Mackay also spoke about the importance of solidifying corporate supply chains ahead of the scheduled U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade review, while highlighting the critical importance of a coordinated front between Canada and Mexico.
Regarding the future of the USMCA, MacKay pointed out that the United States has made it clear that free trade in North America will not return to what it once was, increasing the importance of the Canada-Mexico Action Plan 2025-2028.
“Around 80-85% of trade between the three nations is duty-free and we have to see what we do with the remaining 15%,” he said.
MacKay also voiced concern regarding the operating environment for Canadian companies in Mexico. Earlier this year, he noted that Canadian operators face “concrete, non-abstract headwinds that slow down investment cycles.”
The symposium, sponsored by the Milken Institute, sought to address the question: How can Mexico align institutional capital, government priorities and private investment to finance key sectors, while leveraging the USMCA to strengthen investor confidence and supply chain integration?
The expressed goal was “to examine how trade-policy certainty, innovative financing structures and effective partnership frameworks can turn development priorities into bankable projects.”
Speaking before MacKay, Mexico’s Finance Minister Edgar Amador did not address the asymmetrical imbalance during his keynote address.
Amador told the assembled national and international investors that Mexico’s economy is gaining momentum and preserving an upward trend.
He highlighted factors such as a strong labor market, steady foreign direct investment and decreasing inflation as key elements supporting Mexico’s economic outlook.
With reports from Reforma, El Economista and El Financiero
