Anti-Mexican sentiment (Spanish: sentimiento antimexicano) is prejudice, fear, discrimination, xenophobia, racism, or hatred towards Mexico, its people, and their culture.
Anti-Mexican sentiment ranges from animosity toward the actions of the Mexican government and contempt for culture to discrimination against the people. This sentiment is evident in various countries in the Americas (notably the United States and the countries of Central America), although cases of "Mexicanophobia" (mexicanofobia) can also be seen outside the continent.
Asia China Although largely forgotten by Mexican society, resentment toward Mexicans existed in China due to the 1911 Torreón massacre, where 300 migrants of Chinese origin died.
During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, relations between the two countries cooled considerably after Beijing quarantined approximately seventy Mexican citizens, even though none of them showed symptoms of the virus. Some Chinese also expressed anti-Mexican sentiment in the wake of the outbreak. The Mexican government responded with outrage.
Israel In the 2009 pandemic, Israel was one of the countries that referred to it as the "Mexican flu," which led to discrimination against Mexican residents in the country.Segundo posible caso de gripe porcina en Israel, donde se denomina "mexicana"
In 2017, Mexico and Israel experienced minor tensions after then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his support for the construction of the border wall with the United States. However, Netanyahu maintained that it was a temporary situation and that diplomatic relations would remain stable.Netanyahu: Ties with Mexico ‘much stronger than passing spat’
Americas Argentina In June 2021, the then-President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, allegedly stated that "Mexicans came from the indigenous people, Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentinians arrived on ships, and these were ships that came from Europe, and that's how we built our society." This statement sparked outrage on social media, with Fernández facing harsh criticism for his words.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, prior to the match between the Mexican and Argentinian national teams in the group stage, xenophobic incidents were reported between the two nations, including derogatory insults such as salta muros ("wall jumpers")—referring to Mexicans who illegally cross the border into the U.S.— and monos ("monkeys") directed at Mexican fans, as well as references to the Falklands War in the case of derogatory comments against Argentinian fans.
In May 2024, an Argentine journalist made a derogatory comment, saying "there is nothing uglier than Mexicans," which generated controversy in several internet media outlets.
Bolivia Bilateral relations between Mexico and Bolivia are excellent and strong, although there were some complications in 2019. After the discovery of electoral fraud by the ruling Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party of former Bolivian President Evo Morales—which his supporters had thus far denounced as a "coup d'état"—former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador granted him political asylum. With the transition of Jeanine Áñez to the presidency of Bolivia, relations began to deteriorate; Áñez declared that "I feel sorry for Mexicans," and also expelled the Mexican ambassador to Bolivia, María Teresa Mercado.Conflicto entre Bolivia, México y España: Áñez ordena la expulsión del país de la embajadora de México y de diplomáticos españoles
Some right-wing politicians opposed to the ruling left-wing MAS government in Bolivia have referred to a small town in the tropical Chapare Province region as México chico ("Little Mexico"), using derogatory and comparative terms. This town is considered a clandestine location where stolen vehicles from Chile are stored.Llaman “México chico” al refugio en el Chapare de autos robados en Chile
Ecuador
On 5 April 2024, the Mexican embassy in Quito was raided by Ecuadorian police and military forces. Mexico and numerous other countries decried the raid as a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum.
The assault led to Mexico severing its relations with Ecuador. The following day, Nicaragua followed suit in solidarity with Mexico. Venezuela closed its embassy and consulates in Ecuador due to the raid, condemning Ecuador's actions.
Guatemala In December 1958, both nations were very close to declaring war on each other after an incident involving the Guatemalan navy firing upon Mexican fishing boats off the coast of Guatemala and killing three fisherman and wounding fourteen others. Soon after the attack diplomatic relations were severed and troops were mobilized to the border on both sides and Mexican fighter planes entered Guatemalan airspace to attack the country's main international airport, however, just before the attack was to take place, newly elected Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos called off the attack. In September 1959, with the mediation of Brazil and Chile; diplomatic relations between Guatemala and Mexico were re-established.History of diplomatic missions between Mexico and Guatemala (in Spanish) This incident was known as the Mexico–Guatemala conflict.
United States Its origins in the United States date back to the Mexican and American Wars of Independence and the struggle over the disputed Southwestern territories. That struggle would eventually lead to the Mexican–American War in which the defeat of Mexico caused a great loss of territory. In the 20th century, anti-Mexican sentiment continued to grow after the Zimmermann Telegram, an incident between the Mexican government and the German Empire during World War I.
1840s–1890s Prior to 1854, a significant portion of the western United States, encompassing much of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, was indeed part of Mexico. Through a combination of war, treaties, and land acquisitions, approximately 100,000 Mexicans found themselves under U.S. jurisdiction. In what had once been their homeland, these newly minted Mexican-American citizens encountered racial discrimination, which included the loss of property, meager wages, and instances of lynching. However, during the Great Depression of the 1920s, it is estimated that around 80,000 Mexicans were deported back to Mexico each year, resulting in the fragmentation of Mexican families and communities.
Due to the result of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836) and Texas Annexation (1845), the U.S. inherited the Republic of Texas's border disputes with Mexico, which led to the eruption of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). After the defeat of Mexico, it was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty required Mexico to cede almost half its land to the United States in exchange for 15 million dollars but also guaranteed that Mexican citizens living in ceded lands would retain full property rights and be granted American citizenship if they remained in the ceded lands for at least one year.Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Article 8 The treaty and others led to the establishment in 1889 of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which was tasked with maintaining the border, allocating river waters between the two nations, and providing for flood control and water sanitation.Robert J. McCarthy, Executive Authority, Adaptive Treaty Interpretation, and the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S.–Mexico, 14-2 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 197(Spring 2011) (also available for free download at Robert John McCarthy (15 May 2011). Executive Authority, Adaptive Treaty Interpretation, and the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S.–Mexico)
The lynching of Mexican-Americans in the American Southwest has long been overlooked in U.S. history. That may be because the Tuskegee Institute files and reports, which contain the most comprehensive lynching records in the US, categorized Mexican, Chinese, and Native American lynching victims and white as well.Carrigan, William D. and Clive Web. "The lynching of persons of Mexican origin or descent in the United States, 1848 to 1928" The Journal of Social History 37:2 (Winter 2003): 413. Statistics of reported lynching in the United States indicate that between 1882 and 1951, 4,730 persons were lynched, 1,293 of whom were white and 3,437 black."lynching." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. December 22, 2009. Lynching MOB VIOLENCE. The actual number of Mexicans lynched is unknown. William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb estimate that between 1848 and 1928, at least 597 Mexicans were lynched, of which 64 in areas that lacked a formal judicial system. One particularly infamous lynching occurred on July 5, 1851, when a Mexican woman, Josefa Segovia, was lynched by a mob in Downieville, California. She was accused of killing a man who had attempted to assault her after he had broken into her home.
Law enforcement conducted a considerable amount of these murders; therefore, the malefactors seldom stood trial for lynching Mexican people. Mexicans were lynched for various reasons such as job competition, speaking Spanish too loudly in a public setting, romantically advancing towards white women, acknowledging the Anglo system of cultural difference, and much more.
During the California Gold Rush, right after California became a state of the United States, violence against Mexicans increased. White miners begrudged Mexican people.
1900s–1930s
The Bisbee Deportation was the illegal deportation of about 1,300 striking mine workers, supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 vigilantes on July 12, 1917. The workers and others were kidnapped in the town of Bisbee, Arizona, and held at a local baseball park. They were then loaded onto cattle cars and transported 200 miles (320 km) for 16 hours through the desert without food or water. The deportees were unloaded at Hermanas, New Mexico, without money or transportation and were warned not to return to Bisbee.Remembering the Bisbee Deportation of 1917 - Special Collections
In 1911, a mob of over 100 people hanged a 14-year-old boy, Antonio Gómez, who while trying to escape from a mob that encircled him, killed a German man named Charles Zieschang; he was arrested for murder. Rather than let him serve time in jail, townspeople lynched him and dragged his body through the streets of Thorndale, Texas. Between 1910 and 1919, Texas Rangers were responsible for the deaths of hundreds to thousands of ethnic Mexicans in South Texas. The violence continued through the Porvenir Massacre on January 28, 1918, when Texas Rangers summarily executed 15 Mexicans in Presidio County, Texas. This caused State Representative José Canales to head an investigation into systematic violence against Mexicans by the Texas Rangers, which tried to end the pattern of violence and led to the dismissal of five rangers involved in the massacre.
The Mexican community (most having been on their land since before the Mex/American war and granted citizenship after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed) has been the subject of widespread immigration raids. During the Great Depression, the US government sponsored Mexican Repatriation programs, which were intended to pressure people to move to Mexico, but many were deported against their will. 355,000 to 500,000 individuals were repatriated or deported; 40 to 60% of them US citizens - overwhelmingly children.1930s Mexican Deportation: Educator brings attention to historic period and its effect on her family Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s is Little Known Story Chapter Fifteen