Estimates from INEGI and the U.S. Census indicate that there are over 38 million Mexicans in the United States. Of these, approximately 12 million are individuals born in Mexico who migrated, while the other 26 million are Mexican Americans, descendants of Mexican parents but born in the U.S., and thus hold both nationalities.
Mexicans in the U.S. are, on average, younger than the native-born population, which helps maintain a more sustainable population pyramid and supports long-term programs like Social Security. 52% of Mexican migrant wages go toward paying into Social Security.
Undocumented migrants contribute $13 billion annually to the Social Security system, though most do not claim any benefits, meaning that 92% of that money benefits others.
Latinos in the U.S. generate $3.6 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If Latinos in the U.S. were an independent economy, they would rank as the fifth largest economy in the world.
Of those $3.6 trillion, $2.06 trillion are generated by workers of Mexican origin. Mexicans contribute 7.8% to the U.S. economy.
Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the world with a Mexican population, only after Mexico City. In the social fabric and collective imagination, California –home to nearly 11 million Mexicans– bears a deeply rooted binational identity.
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, spoke out against the use of foreign flags during demonstrations that have erupted in the U.S. in response to immigration raids, which, according to various media outlets, are indiscriminate, not just targeting criminals, and have even resulted in the detention of U.S. citizens due to racial profiling.
In a message on X, Johnson said that flags represent “national identity, pride, and shared values, not division or illegality.”
The diplomat also warned that waving a foreign flag while attacking U.S. law enforcement and destroying property “only damages a bilateral relationship,” referring to Mexico.
In addition to the Mexican flag, flags from El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, and Honduras have also been seen in recent protests.
Groups organizing the marches have repeatedly called for the use of the U.S. flag, but protesters cannot be forced to do so, as this would violate the U.S. Constitution and freedom of expression.
The use of the Mexican flag in California’s immigrant rights movement is not new. Since the 1990s protests against Proposition 187, which sought to criminalize undocumented immigration in the Golden State, this national Mexican symbol has been present at demonstrations against anti-immigrant policies. These extend beyond indiscriminate arrests and also affect markets through the imposition of tariffs that violate free trade agreements, such as the one signed by Trump during his first term with Canada and Mexico, as well as through efforts to tax remittances.
Recent data points to a slowdown in remittances to Mexico, with a 2.5% year-over-year decline in the total for the first four months of 2025, amounting to $19.015 billion.
In 2024, Mexico received a record of nearly $65 billion in remittances, representing almost 4% of its economy, making it the second-largest recipient of remittances globally, behind only India.
All these figures form a snapshot of how deeply intertwined these two nations are. But beyond the numbers and mutual benefits are the stories of millions of Mexicans, as well as people of other nationalities, who came to this “promised land” offering their sweat through labor, their blood in service through the military and other public institutions, and their tears, like those shed in El Paso, when a MAGA movement sympathizer killed dozens of brown-skinned people, targeting “Mexicans.”
Migrants are bold nonconformists; dreamers, people with hope who put their faith into action for a better life, crossing rivers, mountains, and walls, giving part of their lives to a nation that both attracts and rejects them at the same time.
Many are fleeing the very same conditions they are now experiencing in this nation of nations: persecution, authoritarianism, and social injustice. This country became great by remaining a land of opportunity for those who dared to dream. Now, it is turning against its very essence, and in the coming months, the way it responds will determine the path it chooses for its future.
