Searching for acceptance: How the World Cup drove Mexican Americans back to their roots

Searching for acceptance: How the World Cup drove Mexican Americans back to their roots - Click here to listen to this article - Share via See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred - Mexico’s World Cup run may be over, but for many Mexican Americans, its emotional impact endures. - Mexico’s role in the tournament, both as team and host, inspired Mexican Americans to travel south to reclaim language, culture and a sense of belonging. MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s improbable World Cup run ended Sunday with a loss to England, but it didn’t keep the team’s heart and tenacity from delivering one success: A notable increase in Mexican Americans venturing south to reconnect with their roots, language and culture, according to longtime observers and travel figures. The trend, which emerged long before the World Cup, gained intensity against the backdrop of uncertainty in the United States generated by what many see as an anti-immigrant climate fueled by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. A sense of being targeted is palpable across the United States, in Mexican American communities from Los Angeles to El Paso and among U.S. Latinos interviewed in Mexico City. Even so, as Mexico advanced through the tournament, an indicator of national pride emerged: record-setting sales of FIFA Mexico jerseys. More than 5 million were sold — half of them in the United States. “Putting on the Mexican jersey this time took on a different meaning,” said Leny Hernandez, 32, a businessman and former combat soldier, after Mexico’s elimination from the tournament. “I don’t see this as a defeat, but as a victory. I still believe in the dream.” While demographic data don’t pinpoint how many Latinos or Mexican Americans travel annually to Mexico, the travel site Road Genius said almost 5 million of the 48 million foreign travelers visited the country in December, which is traditionally when Mexican Americans return for religious celebrations and vacation. For decades, the Mexican government has tried building bridges, a soft-power initiative known as acercamiento — or coming together — with its rising global diaspora. It’s had some success. But what makes this latest bonding so compelling is that it wasn’t designed by the government. It’s the result of an organic movement that saw immigrants and their offspring reaching across the border in greater numbers, searching, some said, for acceptance. The long-running Telemundo drama series “El Señor de los Cielos” has landed some newfound fame ahead of its 10th and final season, thanks to an aggressive ad campaign employed throughout the World Cup. The World Cup was the lightning rod, said Carlos González Gutiérrez, the Mexican consul general in Los Angeles. González has witnessed the ties between Mexico and its emigrants abroad evolve over four decades, starting as a young consular officer in the administration of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. A sense of urgency “What makes this acercamiento today so interesting is that it’s more mainstream, with younger people,” González said, pointing to a sense of urgency as a key difference. “The exciting part is that this generation is not about wiping the slate clean, but about beginning a new slate,” he said. “They don’t have the same mistrust and resentment that their parents and ancestors carry against the country that was unable to keep them from migrating north.” Since the World Cup kicked off in Mexico City on June 11, Mexican Americans have flocked to fan gatherings throughout the country and trekked to the so-called Cathedral of Soccer, El Estadio Azteca, in Mexico City. In Los Angeles, the consulate sponsored watch parties at Casa México Los Angeles in the city’s downtown; the Mexico-Ecuador match, which Mexico won, drew 3,000 fans. Going into the match, images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement swarming neighborhoods, Home Depot parking lots and car washes were fresh on the minds of many. Far from being the criminals the Trump administration insists it is targeting, the majority of people detained are everyday workers without criminal convictions, according to figures analyzed by TRAC, a data research organization. Scared, sad and vulnerable The ICE roundup left emotional wounds that won’t easily heal for many who described their parents and grandparents, including those living in the country legally, as feeling “scared,” “sad” and “vulnerable.” “Many of us, our families have PTSD,” said Daphne Amezcua, 21, a child development social worker at the Casa México LA event. “Mom is still afraid to go out, and she has her papers in order.” Next to her was a colleague, Santiago Salazar, 22, clad in his black Mexican World Cup team jersey. “It’s not lost on me that a year ago in June, our community [in Los Angeles] was under attack by ICE raids,” he said. After a pause, he added, “When one side rejects you, you look south, the land of your ancestors, to look for acceptance.” The beautiful game Even in majority-Mexican American border cities such as El Paso, where ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents have long blended in the community almost like a part of the landscape, some residents are on edge. Thanks to soccer, often called the world’s beautiful game, many found a needed distraction. The FIFA World Cup has given L.A. businesses a lot of opportunities to find new customers, win contracts and grow their capacity. “I haven’t been to Mexico in a very long time, so being able to do this and supporting [the Mexican team] does make me feel a little closer to home,” said Elizabeth Garcia, 46, who watched the Mexico-Ecuador match at a downtown park in El Paso. “A lot has to do with political issues.” In Mexico City, Mexican Americans displayed their fan duality by draping themselves in both nation’s flags and cheering for the U.S. when Mexico was not on the pitch. Underscoring their dual affinity: Two Mexican Americans played for the U.S. national team — one from Ciudad Juárez and another from El Paso — and two more played for the Mexican team. “I get chills,” said Pamela Huebner, a bartender in Los Angeles. “We have players on both sides.” ‘Found something else’ At Mexico’s first tournament game in Mexico City, Alejandro Rodriguez, who had traveled from Houston, sang his lungs out to the immortal, thunderous song “El Rey” — The King — in unison with nearly 81,000 fans in the stadium. Tears filled his eyes. “We really needed this,” he said. “To be here, this moment, away from the chaos” back in Texas. Near him was an effusive couple calling a family in California: “We won!” they screamed in English. It was yet another early exit for a team that has never made it to the World Cup semifinals — but no one wanted to dwell on defeat, because no one felt defeated. A few rows away, Hernandez, the El Pasoan decked in a black Mexican jersey, was slapping high-fives with strangers around him. These days, even though Mexico is out, Hernandez says he’s in for the long haul. He’s joined a volunteer group to provide donations for an orphanage in the Mexican capital. He plans to load up a truck with clothes, food and other items and make the nearly 2,000-mile trip south to Mexico City later this year. ‘The experience of being in Mexico City was mind-altering for me. I was overcome by the experience, the emotion of being there,” Hernandez said. “I had planned on having a wonderful time, get lost in the debauchery, degeneracy, but I discovered something else, deeper, more profound.” Corchado is executive editor for Puente News Collaborative, a nonprofit newsroom that covers Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border. Puente intern Mariana Chavez and editor Ricardo Sandoval contributed to this report.