The Mexican government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday aimed at assisting Mexicans and Mexican American victims of hate crimes in the United States.



The agreement, signed by Mexico's top diplomat for North America, Undersecretary Jesús Seade, and ADL Senior Vice President for International Affairs Sharon Nazarian, marks the second phase of a 2017 agreement that sought to train Mexican consular officials to help victims of hate crimes.

Mexico has 50 consulates in the United States, the largest consular network maintained in one country by any other.

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The program has now trained more than 300 consular officers in 20 consulates across 16 states, according to ADL.

“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 Seade in a statement.

Hate crime incidents motivated by race or ethnicity rose 18 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to the FBI.

Hate crimes against Latinos rose 24 percent in the same period.

“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 Nazarian.

Under the joint program, Mexico and the ADL will launch a social media campaign called #Denunciaelodio, Spanish for "denounce hate," to raise awareness on the importance of reporting hate crimes.