Political group aligned with Trump, GOP seeks official party status in Mexico

A political group professedly aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party is seeking to register as an official party in Mexico.

The self-styled conservative political association known informally as the Mexican Republican Party has expressed support for Trump’s immigration raids while criticizing the Mexican government for not engaging in similar actions.

Juan Iván Peña Neder, president of the association, has decried what he considers the government’s failure to address the root causes of illegal migration to and from Mexico.

“Lamentably, … the [Mexican government] has eluded responsibility by relying on empty rhetoric not translated into concrete policies, thus perpetuating the conditions that lead to migration,” he said. 

México Republicano, the formal name of the organization that has been described as “ultra-right [and] … confessional,” announced over the weekend that it would soon begin recruiting and registering members in order to become an official national party.

The organization must hold assemblies in at least 20 states and sign up at least 60,000 registered voters in order to join the federal registry of political parties. It was authorized to pursue official party status by the National Electoral Institute (INE) in January.

In a statement issued in February, México Republicano declared itself “the only republican and conservative political organization willing to take on the existing statist and clientelistic model of government” in Mexico.

It also said it will fight to promote economic growth, to support the free market and to consolidate a strong and independent middle class.

In April, Peña Neder further outlined his organization’s ideology: “I believe our sympathy with President Trump and our ideological identification with the Republican Party makes us distinct in this hemisphere,” he said.

Even as Trump’s tariff policies were causing turmoil in Mexico, Peña Neder said his organization would not distance itself from its ideological ties to Trump, saying the alignment positioned his group as the only genuine opposition to Mexico’s government. 

Earlier this month, México Republicano reiterated its ideological concurrence with Trump in a statement posted on social media. The statement criticized the violence associated with the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles which have resulted in the arrests of dozens of Mexican nationals.

“We strongly condemn all acts of violence disguised as protest in countries that have provided opportunities for Mexicans,” the statement reads. “Gratitude and respect for the law must guide our actions, both at home and abroad.”

The statement urged Mexico and the United States “to strengthen agreements for dignified and orderly labor migration.”

The strongly anti-abortion organization, which originated as a local party in the northern state of Chihuahua, was formed in 2022 with support from evangelical groups and conservative businessmen, according to the newspaper La Jornada.

Larry Rubin, a former CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, president of the American Society of Mexico and official representative of the U.S. Republican Party in Mexico, is among the group’s advisers.

With reports from La Jornada, Excelsior, Milenio and Infobae