If the United States is what it is, it's also because of Mexican work
En las primeras semanas de 2026, la presidenta mexicana Claudia Sheinbaum se plantó ante el mundo con una verdad que los números hacen difícil ignorar: 73,000 personas detenidas por ICE en cifras récord, un 84% más que el año anterior. Desde Puebla, Sheinbaum no solo rechazó la política migratoria de Trump, sino que reafirmó algo más profundo: que la prosperidad de una nación se construye también con las manos de quienes llegan de lejos. México respondió no solo con palabras, sino con 100 millones de pesos destinados a la defensa legal de sus nacionales, reconociendo que la dignidad de un pueblo se defiende también en los tribunales ajenos.
- Las detenciones de ICE alcanzaron un récord histórico de 73,000 personas, un salto del 84% en un solo año que convirtió la política migratoria en una crisis de proporciones humanas.
- Sheinbaum confrontó públicamente al gobierno de Trump ante cadetes militares en Puebla, negándose a aceptar que los trabajadores mexicanos sean tratados como prescindibles en la economía que también construyeron.
- México movilizó recursos concretos: 100 millones de pesos para reforzar la presencia consular y garantizar representación legal a los migrantes atrapados en el engranaje de la deportación masiva.
- La tensión diplomática entre ambos países se profundiza sin señales de alivio, con México afirmando el valor de sus ciudadanos mientras Washington acelera su maquinaria de expulsión.
Un jueves de enero, la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum se dirigió a cadetes militares en Puebla con un mensaje que no admitía ambigüedad: México rechaza los operativos masivos de ICE que han detenido a 73,000 personas, la cifra más alta en la historia de Estados Unidos, un 84% más que el año anterior al regreso de Trump al poder.
Sheinbaum no se limitó a la protesta simbólica. Su argumento fue directo: los trabajadores mexicanos no son un accidente en la historia económica estadounidense, sino parte de su fundamento. Décadas de labor honesta, familias con raíces profundas, generaciones que cruzaron fronteras y construyeron vidas. "Si Estados Unidos es lo que es", dijo, "también tiene que ver con el trabajo que los mexicanos han hecho por muchos, muchos años."
El gobierno mexicano respaldó esas palabras con acción. Desde septiembre de 2025, 100 millones de pesos recaudados mediante una lotería especial se destinaron a fortalecer los consulados en Estados Unidos, dotándolos de abogados capaces de defender a los detenidos dentro de un sistema que se ha vuelto notablemente más agresivo.
Sheinbaum habló también de los poblanos, reconociendo su presencia y contribución en el este de Estados Unidos. Era un mensaje doble: hacia adentro, para recordar a los mexicanos el valor de sus compatriotas; hacia el norte, para dejar claro que México observa, objeta y no aceptará que sus trabajadores sean tratados como desechables. La tensión diplomática, lejos de ceder, parece apenas comenzar.
Mexico's president stood before military cadets in Puebla on a Thursday morning in late January and made her position unmistakable: the United States is wrong to be rounding up Mexican workers at the scale it is now doing. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has said this before, in calls and public forums, but the moment demanded repetition. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained roughly 73,000 people—the highest number on record—representing an 84 percent jump from the same period a year earlier, before Donald Trump took office.
Sheinbaum's argument was straightforward and pointed. Mexican nationals in the United States, she said, contribute honestly to American prosperity. They have been doing so for decades. Many have roots there now—multiple generations, dual citizenship, American citizenship itself—yet they remember where their families came from. The work they do, she suggested, is not incidental to American success. It is foundational. "If the United States is what it is," she said, "it also has to do with the work Mexicans have been doing for many, many years."
The Mexican government has moved beyond rhetoric. In September 2025, a special lottery drawing was held that generated roughly 100 million pesos—money directed entirely toward strengthening the country's consular presence in the United States. The purpose was explicit: to protect Mexican nationals caught in the machinery of enforcement. Lawyers now work through these consulates to defend detained migrants, offering legal support in a system that has become, under the new administration, far more aggressive.
The scale of detention tells its own story. Data leaked to CBS News showed that 73,000 people were in ICE custody—a figure that stands as the highest in American history. The year-over-year increase of 84 percent reflects not a gradual tightening but a sharp acceleration of enforcement activity. These are not abstract numbers. Each represents a person separated from work, from family, from the life they had built.
Sheinbaum emphasized the particular contributions of workers from Puebla, noting their presence and labor in the eastern United States. She was speaking to a domestic audience, reminding Mexicans of their countrymen's value and of their government's commitment to them. But the message was also directed northward: Mexico sees what is happening, Mexico objects to it, and Mexico will not accept the premise that these workers are disposable.
The diplomatic tension is unlikely to ease. Trump's immigration enforcement has become one of the defining features of his second term, and Mexico's response—combining public criticism with institutional support for its nationals—reflects the depth of the disagreement. Sheinbaum's words in Puebla were not a negotiating position. They were a statement of principle, delivered with the weight of a nation defending its people.
Citações Notáveis
The Mexicans in the United States contribute honestly to the development of their country and to Mexico's development— President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
If the United States is what it is, it also has to do with the work Mexicans have been doing for many, many years— President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Sheinbaum keep saying this if Trump's administration isn't listening?
Because she's not really talking to Trump. She's speaking to Mexicans—telling them their government sees them, that their work matters, that they're not abandoned. That matters when you're detained and afraid.
But 73,000 people detained is a staggering number. What does that actually mean on the ground?
It means families waking up to empty chairs at the table. It means people who've lived in the US for twenty years suddenly in custody with no clear path forward. It means the consulates are overwhelmed, even with the extra funding.
The 100 million pesos—is that enough?
It's a gesture of commitment, but it's not enough money to solve a problem of this scale. What it does is signal that Mexico won't pretend this isn't happening. They're putting lawyers in the system.
Why emphasize that these workers built America?
Because it reframes the conversation. Trump's rhetoric treats migrants as a problem to be solved. Sheinbaum is saying: these people are not a problem. They're the reason your economy works. That's a different argument entirely.
Does Mexico have any real leverage here?
Not much, honestly. But they have dignity. And they have the ability to make clear that this isn't a one-sided relationship. That matters for future negotiations, for how this relationship evolves.