The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) and the Mexican Foreign Ministry on Wednesday signed an agreement to work collaboratively to assist people of Mexican heritage living in the United States who are victims of discrimination, bigotry, bullying and hate crimes.
The Memorandum of Understanding between ADL and Mexico commences the second phase of a two-year partnership working to fight back against the rising tide of hate crimes and discrimination facing Mexican nationals and immigrants living in America.
The agreement was signed Wednesdayin Mexico City by Jesús Seade, Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America, and Sharon Nazarian, ADL Senior Vice President for International Affairs.
“One of the great priorities for the government of Mexico is to protect the human rights of its nationals abroad, especially backing them against hate crimes,” said Undersecretary Seade. “We are deeply committed to improve the consular assistance and protection given to the Mexican communities in the United States, which we will achieve through strategic partnerships such as the one we reaffirm today with ADL”.
The partnership is rooted in shared values between ADL and the Mexican Government: opposing hate and discrimination; promoting respectful and inclusive communities and protecting the rights of every person.
“The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric and all forms of hate in the United States is deeply concerning. We are so pleased to be continuing our work with the Mexican government to ensure that immigrants in America have a voice and a place to turn when they face discrimination or hate,” said Sharon Nazarian, ADL’s SVP of International Affairs. “Most importantly, this partnership provides a tool for individuals to report hate crimes to consulates, where trained staff are able to help respond to harassment and report it when necessary.”
As part of the partnership, ADL and the Foreign Ministry will launch “#DenunciaElOdio,” a social media campaign to raise awareness among the Hispanic community in the U.S. about the importance of identifying and reporting hate crimes. The campaign aims to increase reporting and to gather data on incidents of harassment, violence and hate crimes.
Since December 2018, ADL experts have trained more than 300 consular officers in 20 Mexican consulates across 16 states on how to respond to reports of hate crimes. There are now more than 2,000 officials and community leaders that have received this type of training from ADL.
According to the latest FBI data, hate crimes in the U.S. jumped 17 percent in 2017.