Brokers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement performed a sequence of raids all through Los Angeles and Southern California in early June 2025, sparking protests in downtown Los Angeles and different cities, together with New York, Chicago and Austin, Texas.
Some demonstrators expressed rising frustration with ICE by showcasing the Mexican flag, which has change into the defining symbol of the protests in Los Angeles.
The usage of the flag has additionally change into the topic of intense debate within the media.
Some retailers have depicted the flag as symbolizing ethnic pride, solidarity with immigrants and opposition to the Trump administration.
Others have referred to as it the “perfect propaganda” device for Republicans and conservatives, a few of whom have referred to the Mexican flag because the “confederate banner of the L.A. riots.” They level to its use as proof of anarchy and a city taken over by immigrants.
However what do People take into consideration protesters waving the Mexican flag, and why?
A lot of our knowledge surrounding this question is predicated on the 2006 immigrant rights protests throughout the USA, which occurred in a a lot less politically polarized era. Moreover, a vast majority of protesters then introduced U.S. flags in contrast with different nationwide flags, together with the Mexican flag.
Research printed in 2010 discovered that despite the fact that the general public was extra prone to be bothered by protesters waving the Mexican flag than the U.S. flag, that distinction was largely absent when you divided the general public into subgroups, together with white folks, Latinos and immigrants.
To reexamine public attitudes towards protesters waving the Mexican flag, we performed an online survey experiment amongst 10,145 U.S. adults in 2016.
As political scientists who specialize in Latino politics and immigration-related issues, we examined how publicity to the Mexican flag versus the American flag formed opinion about protests throughout Trump’s first presidential marketing campaign in 2016.
We discovered that despite the fact that a lot of the general public continued to be much less bothered by the American flag than the Mexican flag, there have been additionally essential and maybe stunning variations in protest attitudes between white People and different racial and ethnic teams.
AP Photo/Wally Skalij
Kind of bothered
Within the research, we randomly divided respondents into two teams: a remedy group and a management group. Respondents within the remedy group had been proven a picture of protesters waving a Mexican flag. Respondents within the management group had been proven a picture of protesters waving the U.S. flag. After viewing the picture, respondents had been then requested in regards to the extent to which they supported or had been bothered by the protests.
General, 41% of the respondents mentioned they had been bothered by protesters waving the Mexican flag, and 28% mentioned protesters waving the U.S. flag bothered them.
Our outcomes present essential variations in opinion between racial and ethnic teams.
White respondents had been extra possible than another racial and ethnic group to say they had been bothered by protesters waving Mexican flags. Sixty-nine p.c of white respondents mentioned they had been bothered, 31 share factors greater than the typical of nonwhite respondents.
Nonetheless, 51% of white respondents had been additionally bothered by the picture of protesters waving U.S. flags. Against this, simply 20% of Latinos, 33% of Black People and 34% of Asian People mentioned they had been bothered by protesters waving U.S. flags.
Put in a different way, massive majorities of nonwhite respondents had been supportive of displaying U.S. flags at protests regardless of their extra constructive views towards Mexican flags.
What explains racial variations?
When taking a deeper have a look at what causes People to really feel bothered about protesters waving Mexican flags, some clear patterns emerge.
On common, older People had been extra prone to be bothered relative to youthful People. This was significantly true for People over 40 years of age in contrast with millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, and Gen Z respondents, born between 1997 and 2012.
Nonetheless, there are some nuances when analyzing age teams and whether or not they had attended a protest, march or rally within the earlier 12 months.
Our findings counsel that older People who had not engaged in protests had been almost definitely to be bothered after they noticed photos of protesters waving Mexican flags. Millennials and Gen Z respondents who participated in a protest had been least prone to be bothered.
On condition that this concern intersects nationality, race, ethnicity, gender and citizenship standing, it’s logical that these components defined why People supported or opposed using Mexican flags at immigration protests.

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For instance, racial minorities who’ve a stronger sense of ethnic or racial id had been extra prone to be supportive of protesters waving Mexican and U.S. flags. In different phrases, group id is a powerful predictor of assist for protests typically, no matter what flag is being flown.
Nonetheless, minorities who lack a way of ethnic satisfaction and id had been almost definitely to be upset after they noticed others expressing their First Modification proper to peaceably assemble.
The truth is that current immigration protests throughout the nation are the primary time lots of the Latino youth who’re residents have participated in a majority of these protests. Anybody below age 22 wouldn’t have reminiscence of, or been alive throughout, the final massive pro-immigrant protests in 2006.
The Mexican flag represents greater than nationalistic satisfaction. It represents their mother and father’ heritage, laborious work and their binational expertise as People engaged in politics.