South of the border: Worries in Mexico City over immigration prospects.
MEXICO CITY — Rocio and her daughter, Lesslie, had never attended a protest before. But on Friday afternoon they stood in front of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City carrying a sign that read: “Donald Trump: You’re disgusting. You sow hate.”
They were among hundreds of Mexican protesters outside the embassy, angry over the election of President Trump. Many of the demonstrators have family in the United States, where there are 11.7 million Mexican immigrants, an estimated 5.8 million without papers.
The relationship between the two countries is facing its biggest strain in decades with the presidency of Trump, whose campaign promises included building a wall along the border to keep out Mexicans and promising to deport millions of “criminal” immigrants.
In Mexico City, reactions to Trump’s presidency varied. One taxi driver compared him to Hitler. Others were more optimistic.
“When he was on the campaign, he was telling people what they wanted to hear. It’s impossible he will do them all,” said Jose Tame, a businessman who lives in Mexico but travels regularly to the United States. “Eight years ago people were saying Obama was going to be a disaster. I just want to wait and see, because we don’t know yet.”
But by and large, Mexicans seemed worried about what Trump’s presidency would mean for their friends and family living in the United States, as well as for the Mexican economy. The peso plunged around 18 percent after Trump’s victory, although it rose slightly on Friday.
Trump didn’t mention Mexico by name in his inauguration speech, but declared: “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.”
The protest in front of the U.S. Embassy was a sea of red and yellow, the colors of the left-leaning Mexican Workers’ Party, which organized the rally. Demonstrators railed against Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who welcomed Trump in Mexico City during the campaign. But they saved most of their fire for Trump, warning that he is a threat to world peace and to the planet.
“We are going to defend our land. We are not going to let you impose your politics of misery on our country,” proclaimed one speaker on a bullhorn in front of the U.S. Embassy. Another said the United States is a “country that exploits our resources and denies civil and political rights.”
Rocio and her daughter said they have no political affiliation. Rocio said they “love the United States” and have family living all over the country, from Minnesota to California. Some are documented; others aren’t. But on Friday, Rocio wasn’t thinking about them. She was worried about her two sons, who live in Texas.
Rocio hasn’t seen them in eight years, since they were 16 and 17, when she and her daughter left the country under the threat of deportation. Her sons are now “Dreamers,” part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a federal program for people who entered the U.S. as children and were undocumented.
“When Trump won, they called crying because they were scared and didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Rocio, who didn’t want to give her last name because she fears her two sons will be deported. “As a mother, I suffer for them.” She said she was at the protest because “I want them to feel they are not alone.”
Rocio’s story isn’t unusual among Mexicans. She moved to the United States 16 years ago with her daughter, then 2, and two sons, who were 8 and 9. Her husband lived in the United States and arranged for a smuggler to bring them across the border. Rocio sold everything she owned, and with her kids in tow, crossed the Rio Grande.
Her husband didn’t come to retrieve them, however, and Rocio and the children made their way to Brownsville, Texas. Members of a local church helped them find a place to live and get established until Rocio could find employment. She got three jobs.
At 4 a.m. she worked putting ads in the local newspaper. At 7 a.m. she went to work at a Mexican restaurant. At 3 p.m. she picked up her daughter. And at 7 p.m. she went to work cleaning a Wells Fargo. Her two boys, then in school, helped out at the restaurant and also earned money by walking the neighbors’ dogs.
Then, after eight years in the country, an immigration agent who frequented the restaurant asked Rocio if she had papers. She said no. The agent told her, “Oh Rocio, you have to go. And if not, we are going to do our job.”
Rocio packed up her things, said goodbye to her friends, and left. She planned to bring her sons with her, but they resisted.
“They said, ‘No Mami. We have lived here since we were kids. We have friends here. What are we going to do there?’ ” Rocio said.
She and her daughter left and never returned. Rocio said she is still paying taxes on a piece of land she purchased in the hope that she could one day return.
“My hope is that one day our family could have papers so we could visit each other, hug each other,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “All these years we have been making progress, but with this man” — Trump — “it’s a big step backward.
“It’s very sad,” she said. “We love the United States, but unfortunately this person is sowing hate all over the world.”