Why Patriotic USA Citizens are Sometimes Carrying Mexican Flags at Anti-ICE Protests

MaryAnn Thompson-Frenk D.D. (h.c.), FRSA
Special to the Black Press

I am a proud Native American who was born in Mexico and adopted at 5 days old into
the United States where I became a Naturalized Citizen of the USA. I am deeply, deeply
appreciative of everything that the United States has provided me in my life and as a
humanitarian have worked hard to give back to our wonderful country.

But the day Stephen Miller encouraged trump to refer to my entire race as “an infestation” and accused us of “dirtying the blood of America”, etc… etc… with openly white supremacists like Steve Bannon talking about those with my Native American DNA somehow causing the reduction of the White Race, they deliberately isolated brown people.

The Mexican flag is a symbol of when the ancient Aztecs wandered until they spotted a prophesized eagle holding a snake in its claws on an island in the center of a lake, (what today is Mexico City), where they built the ancient city of Tenochtitlan with such wonders as running hot and cold water, separation of waste water from clean water, the first aquaponic systems, a library that rivaled the Library of Alexandria (which the Spanish later burnt down except for scrolls taken by the Papacy), architecture demonstrating a knowledge of calculous, astronomy and engineering, etc…etc.

So in the horrendous rhetoric we are hearing today, (for example, I’ve been at a black tie gala where drunk attendees encouraged an off duty ICE officer to shoot me to help get rid of some of “the infestation” – so that kind of thing), where President Trump’s and MAGA’s intentional memetics are crafted to incite hate against Brown people, I understand why people are resorting back to the original meaning of that flag.

I work beside Native Americans in the USA too and ICE has been taking people from Native American reservations and refusing to give them back unless the Chiefs agree to enter a contract with them. Meanwhile, Dallas, which has the third largest population of Native Americans of any major city in the country, has had many incidents of ICE threatening them too.

The Native American Nahuatl language shared by many from Mexico is also shared via many dialects among Pueblo Tribes from the Tigua Tribe of Texas to the Tesuque & Hopi of New Mexico and Ute of Colorado/Utah. We are one race of people, so no wonder ICE can’t tell the difference. I share these facts so that you might understand the significance of waving a Mexican flag.

I don’t wave one because I refuse to allow the bigotry that has increasingly become associated with a warped version of Christian Nationalism to be the only visual of USA Patriotism and can think of no more defiant demonstration than to be standing in my brown skin holding the USA flag aloft while standing for equality among all demographics that form our citizenry.

But I “get” how hard it is to do that when the MAGA leaders continually co-opt it for their messages of hate and single my race out. There is only so long that you can be singled out without singling yourself out. I have been stopped by ICE more than once and I am in the top 1% economically. So, If I won’t even take the trash out without my passport in my pocket, can you imagine how terrified many brown families are across the country? ICE sometimes doesn’t care if we have our passport or Tribal ID when they ask, “Papers Please” and Trump’s aim at trying to remove birthright citizenship from Native Americans living on reservations speaks to his end goal.

We are the most inconvenient demographic for MAGA’s narrative of what they feel a “real American” should look like.

But Native Americans share a prophecy of the Eagle and Condor reconnecting, symbolizing the indigenous people across the Americas and recognize our brothers and sisters across borders. I am not advocating for open borders, but I am advocating for basic human decency, respect and ethical treatment of all people as defined by our constitution which promises innocent until proven guilty and access to a speedy trial and representation.

Today there are people this administration has kept in concentration camps where a toilet is the main source of water, medicine is denied, and access to a lawyer is denied — and those are just the legal citizens I am talking about. What they do with those without papers is even worse. So please, before you dismiss the person waving an image of an ancient Native American symbol representing the indigenous people of the Americas who were not killed by conquistadors, the Ku Klux Klan days when Texas hung signs saying “No Mexicans Allowed” and when those with Brown skin were not allowed to pursue graduate education, (my father, John Philp Thompson, Sr, was one of those who fought to make The University of Texas allow brown people to get Masters and Doctoral degrees – and that was long before he adopted me), and now today with ICE stopping us
on the street, in the airport, on a bus, etc. (those are just some of my personal experiences), please consider that it might stand for someone declaring they won’t hide or be ashamed of their DNA, as opposed to having allegiance to a country other than the USA.

I apologize for this being long, but it was my effort to explain why people carry a
Mexican flag these days while simultaneously standing for their rights as an American
citizen: because for hundreds of years before Mexico existed, that symbol stood for the
Native American people who proudly declared, “We are still here.”

Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk, D.D. (h.c.), FRSA, is the recipient of the 2018 Civic Pioneer Award, one of the highest recognitions given by Congress to a U.S. female citizen. She is co-founder of The Memnosyne Institute with Joshua Raymond Frenk, an international nonprofit helping humanity tackle the challenges of globalization, and a published writer, award-winning sculptor, human rights and environmental activist, social-responsible investor and conscious capitalist, and international speaker. She received the 2020 Immigrant Advocate Award, honoring Outstanding Immigrant Trailblazers, issued by the City of Dallas, the “Logic For Peace Award” recognition from the United Nations, and the 2025 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Biden.