LA Protests: Why Are So Many Mexican Flags Flying in the US?
Published in Die Tageszeitung
(Germany) on 16 June 2025
by Wolf-Dieter Vogel (link to original)
People are waving Mexican flags at rallies against deportation in California. But it has very little to do with nationalism.
Undoubtedly, many Mexicans may smile when they see photos of migrant activism directed against the U.S. government's deportation crackdown. People are flying countless flags of their nation at rallies now in LA, Chicago and Dallas. The image of a man masked in Mexican style, standing atop a police car in front of billowing smoke and waving a Mexican flag, is creating quite a stir.
Is this long-awaited vengeance finally surfacing? In the 19th century, Mexico’s northern neighbors occupied large parts of Mexico. First, it annexed Texas, followed by a war that led to the takeover of what are now Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Utah, along with sections of Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. U.S. troops forced the Mexican government to surrender 55% of its national territory — 500,000 square miles. That amounts to almost four times the size of Germany.
For most Mexicans, the idea of revenge for land-grabbing is unlikely to provoke more than a wry smile. The violent acquisition of land is just one of many humiliations Mexico has suffered at the hands of their northern neighbors that people south of the Rio Grande continue to endure. But the border that has existed ever since — drawn, like most borders, with deceit, malice, and strategic intent — ultimately marks the dividing line of economic exploitation.
It bears little relation to cultural identity. Border cities like Nuevo Laredo are, in many ways, closer to their U.S. counterparts than to the indigenous-influenced regions of Mexico’s impoverished south. The border simply serves as a foundational tool of capitalist economies, enabling cheap, illegal labor in California's fields and in the global market factories of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez with markets, tariffs — or sometimes nothing at all.
Intercultural Relations
For millions of Mexican families with relatives “up north,” as they say, this is simply a matter of course, as it is for migrants themselves. Older people with green cards often move back and forth between these two worlds, while for those “without papers,” the Rio Grande naturally imposes hard limits. These binational identities are reflected just as much in the taquerias of Tucson, Arizona, as in the sleek SUVs visitors drive from Atlanta speeding through their grandfathers’ hometowns in Mexico’s Sierra Sur. And these identities are expressed in the flags that people are waving.
It's about that intercultural relationship, not about romanticizing nationalism, even though many people take pride in their cultural roots. “They are the children and grandchildren of immigrants,” Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The New York Times.
So, he emphasizes, the demonstrators never questioned their U.S. citizenship or their belonging here. “They simply recognize the racist motivations behind the attacks.” It's no coincidence that both Mexican and U.S. flags appear at these protests. It’s not uncommon to see them both intertwined.
Nationalist Interpretations
It's hardly surprising that, in contrast to migrant communities, the U.S. government favors a nationalist interpretation of the red, white and green flag. Trump adviser Stephen Miller spoke of “foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders.” Unquestionably foreign and therefore negative.
Well, that was until a few days ago, when agricultural companies started pressuring the president over the looming shortage of cheap seasonal labor. Trump now refers to “very good, long-time workers,” as he orders a temporary halt to operations in agriculture, restaurants, and hotels. If nothing else, at least capitalist reasoning has its limits.
Undoubtedly, many Mexicans may smile when they see photos of migrant activism directed against the U.S. government's deportation crackdown. People are flying countless flags of their nation at rallies now in LA, Chicago and Dallas. The image of a man masked in Mexican style, standing atop a police car in front of billowing smoke and waving a Mexican flag, is creating quite a stir.
Is this long-awaited vengeance finally surfacing? In the 19th century, Mexico’s northern neighbors occupied large parts of Mexico. First, it annexed Texas, followed by a war that led to the takeover of what are now Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Utah, along with sections of Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. U.S. troops forced the Mexican government to surrender 55% of its national territory — 500,000 square miles. That amounts to almost four times the size of Germany.
For most Mexicans, the idea of revenge for land-grabbing is unlikely to provoke more than a wry smile. The violent acquisition of land is just one of many humiliations Mexico has suffered at the hands of their northern neighbors that people south of the Rio Grande continue to endure. But the border that has existed ever since — drawn, like most borders, with deceit, malice, and strategic intent — ultimately marks the dividing line of economic exploitation.
It bears little relation to cultural identity. Border cities like Nuevo Laredo are, in many ways, closer to their U.S. counterparts than to the indigenous-influenced regions of Mexico’s impoverished south. The border simply serves as a foundational tool of capitalist economies, enabling cheap, illegal labor in California's fields and in the global market factories of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez with markets, tariffs — or sometimes nothing at all.
Intercultural Relations
For millions of Mexican families with relatives “up north,” as they say, this is simply a matter of course, as it is for migrants themselves. Older people with green cards often move back and forth between these two worlds, while for those “without papers,” the Rio Grande naturally imposes hard limits. These binational identities are reflected just as much in the taquerias of Tucson, Arizona, as in the sleek SUVs visitors drive from Atlanta speeding through their grandfathers’ hometowns in Mexico’s Sierra Sur. And these identities are expressed in the flags that people are waving.
It's about that intercultural relationship, not about romanticizing nationalism, even though many people take pride in their cultural roots. “They are the children and grandchildren of immigrants,” Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The New York Times.
So, he emphasizes, the demonstrators never questioned their U.S. citizenship or their belonging here. “They simply recognize the racist motivations behind the attacks.” It's no coincidence that both Mexican and U.S. flags appear at these protests. It’s not uncommon to see them both intertwined.
Nationalist Interpretations
It's hardly surprising that, in contrast to migrant communities, the U.S. government favors a nationalist interpretation of the red, white and green flag. Trump adviser Stephen Miller spoke of “foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders.” Unquestionably foreign and therefore negative.
Well, that was until a few days ago, when agricultural companies started pressuring the president over the looming shortage of cheap seasonal labor. Trump now refers to “very good, long-time workers,” as he orders a temporary halt to operations in agriculture, restaurants, and hotels. If nothing else, at least capitalist reasoning has its limits.
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