The presence of the Mexican flag at protests in Los Angeles and a social media post by United States President Donald Trump were among the topics President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Friday morning press conference.
She also considered the possibility of immigration agents detaining Mexicans at a soccer match in L.A. on Saturday.
The recent immigration raids and protests in California’s largest city were a dominant theme at the president’s mañaneras this week. At her press conferences earlier this week, she condemned violence during the protests, responded to a claim by U.S. Homeland Security Kristi Noem that she encouraged “violent protests” in Los Angeles, and provided updates on the number of Mexicans who had been detained in raids.
Here is a recap of the president’s final mañanera of the week.
Sheinbaum: Portrayal of Mexicans in US as violent is ‘false’
A reporter said that people have claimed on social media that they were paid to attend recent protests in Los Angeles against immigration raids and asked the president whether her government had any relevant information.
“We believe that these images of the Mexican flag in violent acts, particularly this image of a person with a Mexican flag on top of a burning police car, are a provocation,” Sheinbaum responded.
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“It has all the appearance of a provocation and of [wanting] to create a [bad] image of Mexico,” she said.
The president was apparently claiming that the person in the aforesaid photo had deliberately set out to portray Mexico and Mexicans — especially those in the United States — in a bad light.
In contrast, Sheinbaum continued, Mexico is a “great nation” and Mexicans in the U.S. are “hardworking men and women who have been there for years.”
“They’ve raised their families there, they work in the fields, in the service industry, in the factories,” she said.
“[They are] hardworking men and women of good faith who never seek violence,” Sheinbaum said.
“There are a lot of studies that show that the percentage of undocumented immigrants that commit illegal acts is minimal, compared to the illegal acts committed by United States citizens,” she added.
“So this image they want to promote of Mexicans in the United States being violent is false. It’s a set-up, it’s a provocation,” Sheinbaum said.
The president subsequently reiterated her call for Mexicans in the United States to protest peacefully. She also reiterated that her government is opposed to “these raids” carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We’re always going to defend Mexicans, but we must be very clear that these violent actions are in fact a provocation. By who? We don’t know, but they’re an act of provocation,” Sheinbaum said.
President Trump claimed this week that “paid insurrectionists” or “paid troublemakers” had participated in protests in Los Angeles. He didn’t provide any concrete evidence to support his assertion.
Sheinbaum welcomes Trump’s assertion that ‘changes are coming’ in US immigration policy
A reporter noted that Trump said on social media on Thursday that he intended to make changes to his immigration policy.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” the U.S. president wrote on Truth Social.
“In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” Trump said.
The U.S. president went back to old habits in a subsequent post, writing:
“I campaigned on, and received a Historic Mandate for, the largest Mass Deportation Program in American History. Polling shows overwhelming Public Support for getting the Illegals out, and that is exactly what we will do.”
Sheinbaum described Trump’s “changes are coming!” post as “good,” but added that she hoped that he would in fact act on his words.
“… It’s good that he recognizes that Latino migrants and particularly Mexicans contribute to the United States economy,” she said.
“California is the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world, and that’s thanks to Mexicans, the millions of Mexicans who live there, who have a very strong Mexican identity but also a very strong U.S. identity because they raised their families there, they work there every day, pay taxes and are very integrated in society,” Sheinbaum said.
“… I lived in the north of California for four years, I studied there, and there are entire towns that live from [the work of] Mexicans,” she said.
“More people from Aguililla, Michoacán, live in Redwood City in the north of California than in Aguililla, Michoacán, due to the historic migration there has been of entire families,” Sheinbaum said.
Aguililla — which has been plagued by cartel violence in recent years — and Redwood City are sister cities. “A number of Redwood City residents have immigrated from or are descendants of immigrants of Aguililla, Michoacán, México,” according to the city government.
Could ICE target Mexican soccer fans in LA?
A reporter asked Sheinbaum whether she would advise Mexicans not to attend Mexico’s opening match of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup due to the possibility that ICE will carry out raids at or near the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. El Tri will play the Dominican Republic at the stadium on Saturday night.
Sheinbaum said that she didn’t think ICE would target soccer fans.
“Being a soccer match, we don’t believe there will be any action of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — we hope there’s not, we call on there not to be,” she said.
Los Angeles television station KTLA reported that “human rights groups warn the current climate could depress attendance” at both the Gold Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, “especially among Latino and immigrant communities that have long formed the foundation of U.S. soccer fandom.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
