At her Monday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to questions about Mexicans in the United States and U.S. President Donald Trump’s crusade against so-called “sanctuary cities.”

In response to another question, she deflected criticism of her non-attendance at the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

Sheinbaum: ‘The criminalization of migrants is essentially racist’

In response to a question about the importance of Mexicans to the United States economy and society, Sheinbaum said her compatriots have lived north of the (current) border for “several generations.”

“They already lived there when they took half our territory, or more than half our territory,” she said, referring to land Mexico lost to the United States in the 19th century.

Sheinbaum highlighted that most Mexicans in the United States live there legally.

“Of the 38 million there are estimated to be … there are 4 million who don’t have documents, but the majority of them have been in the United States for many years and contribute,” she said.

“It is estimated that 20% of the earnings of Mexicans [in the United States] is sent [to Mexico] in remittances. What does that mean? That 80% stays in the United States, in savings, in consumption, in the payment of taxes,” Sheinbaum said.

“So this idea that migrants take jobs [from U.S. citizens], it’s the complete opposite, they help the United States economy,” she said.

Without mentioning his name, Sheinbaum took a swipe at Donald Trump, who has used a rather broad brush in characterizing many migrants as criminals while vowing to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

“The criminalization of migrants is essentially racist,” Sheinbaum said.

“What we’re saying is that … we have to talk about those 4 million undocumented [Mexicans] with the government of the United States,” she said.

In anticipation of a possible flood of deportations, the Mexican government created a program called “México te abraza” (Mexico embraces you) to support Mexicans deported from the United States during the second Trump administration. However, in the more than three months since Trump took office, the pace of deportations has not been faster than under previous U.S. presidents.

‘We will always defend our compatriots’ 

A reporter asked Sheinbaum about Trump’s proposed “executive order against sanctuary cities,” which the U.S. president signed later on Monday.

Trump signed the order “to enforce federal law with respect to sanctuary jurisdictions to protect their citizens from dangerous illegal aliens,” according to a White House fact sheet.

The fact sheet said that:

• “The Order directs the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of States and local jurisdictions obstructing federal immigration law enforcement and notify each sanctuary jurisdiction of its non-compliance, providing an opportunity to correct it.”

It added that:

• “Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not comply with federal law may lose federal funding.”

Sheinbaum said that her government will “always defend our compatriots” in the United States, and will soon announce “changes we’re going to carry out in the [Mexican] consulates” in the U.S. “so that they have even more support.”

She reiterated that her administration is opposed to Trump’s mass deportation plans, and told reporters that five Mexicans were detained in a federal raid in Colorado Springs on Sunday.

Mexico was ‘very well represented’ at Pope’s funeral 

A reporter asked the president to respond to criticism that she didn’t personally attend the funeral of Pope Francis, held on Saturday in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City, prior to interment at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

“We were very well represented by [Interior Minister] Rosa Icela [Rodríguez],” Sheinbaum responded.

She once again spoke in glowing terms about “the legacy and life of Pope Francis,” who she described as a “humanist pope who always put the poor first.”

“He leaves a great legacy to the whole world, to Catholics and non-Catholics,” Sheinbaum said.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)