Thank you to the Mexican Firefighters of Ciudad Acuña
Although the relief effort wasn't federally directed, the local generosity is still heroic
When a reporter asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for her reaction to Viola Davis’s viral post thanking her for her leadership, she deflected any praise with more humility and universality. The president then clarified the viral confusion to redirect the American gratitude from the federal government of Mexico to a specific nonprofit in Acuña City, Coahuila, Mexico: Fundación 911.
“Despite claims crediting Sheinbaum with sending rescue teams to Texas, the aid that arrived from Mexico came from a local emergency unit in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, a Mexican border city across from Del Rio, Texas,” yahoo! news reported on July 9, 2025.
In President Sheinbaum’s July 2025 press conference about the relief effort to support Texas after the devastation and destruction from flash flooding, after thanking municipal president Emilio De Hoyos, she recognized specific firefighters by their names: Javier Alvarado Lumbreras, Christopher Abraham Herrera, Roel Delgado Martínez, José Omar Llanas, Aldo Ortiz Rodríguez, Mario Alberto Linares Linares, Guillermo Samuel Quiroz, Javier Isaac Alvarado, Jesús Eduardo Salas.
“While Sheinbaum acknowledged and praised their efforts during a July 7, 2025, news conference, she didn't claim to have organized or authorized their deployment. The Mexican government's assistance focused on consular support for the roughly 30 Mexican nationals affected by the flooding.”1
When I saw the “Viola Davis” post on multiple platforms I was so bowled over with gratitude I instantly started writing a thank you letter to President Sheinbaum and everyone who voted for her.
It turns out many of us believed that she sent firefighters and emergency personnel to help in the search and rescue efforts without actually confirming it. What we wouldn’t give for a president whose leadership and generosity are so consistent that we accidentally believe they did more than they actually have. But our gratitude needs to go directly to Fundación 911, the Acuña City volunteers from the Civil Protection and Fire Department, and the Texas-based EquuSearch who requested help.
President Sheinbaum additionally thanked Fundación 911 for their coordinated relief efforts between the states of Coahuila and Texas, recognizing those volunteers by name: Ismael Aldana Flores, Miguel Ángel González, Jesús Gómez Arispe y Jorge Fuentes.
“This is the Mexican people, this is our culture. Mexicans are supportive, always brothers. And what the firefighters reflect that went and risked their lives, like they did in California, in order to save others, is the essence of the Mexican people. It’s humanism,” President Sheinbaum concluded.
Now I’m redirecting that same gratitude, which remains as profound, for the generosity, bravery, and selflessness of our neighbors who crossed a violently politicized border to help desperate people survive.
Below is the translation of my original thank you, minus a familial overview of the hypocrisy of Senator Ted Cruz on immigration.
How can we say thank you, just one phrase, for the unbreakable friendship of our neighbors when we don’t deserve it? Two syllables are not enough to express our gratitude. Regardless, I will try.
Dear Mexico, you sent relief teams to Texas where floods have already killed more than 1,000 people. Your president dispatched firefighters and rescue specialist to search for the missing.
And how did I find out about this humanitarian gesture? From our President Trump? No. From a White House spokesperson? No. Our national news is not reporting that the country of nothing more than “rapists and drug dealers” is helping us. Again. Some local channels are sharing information. But I found about this neighborly gift through social media. A very respected actress is recognizing and acknowledging this incredible gesture of our neighbors.
“Mexico’s president just sent rescue teams to Texas. After all the hate. After all of the anti-immigration policies. After all the racism toward Brown people. She still helped. She still showed up. She still did the right thing. To a “red” state that wouldn’t do the same thing for her. This is leadership. This is power. This is a woman.” — Viola Davis, American actress
She is referring to the conservative majority in the state of Texas that votes Republican or “red”. It’s a very prevalent contradiction. Many people vote for the political party that benefits them the least.
According to El Porvenir, “In addition to the federal government, states like Nuevo Leon have also helped in the Texan emergency.”
This is not the first time you’ve helped us, far from it. Helping your American neighbors is a tradition without borders or expectations.
During WWII and after, the Braceros program brought 4.6 million agricultural workers to maintain American farms while so many men had to leave and serve as soldiers. The program lasted from 1942 to 1964. Unfortunately, in 1954, “Operation Wetback”, with its seriously racist name, deported more than a million Mexicans, including American citizens just because they had Mexican roots. This massive deportation reflects those during the Great Depression and those of today.
In 2005, you sent a military convoy of 44 vehicles and 200 unarmed soldiers to support us after Hurricane Katrina. Each vehicle had a Mexican flag. You brought water, medical supplies, and prepared food. And you also offered 21,000 meals every day.
In 2007, soldiers joined firefighters from Tijuana and Tecate in Baja California in Mexico to fight forest fires in California.
You returned to California in 2020 and again in 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed 72 firefighters and emergency personnel from Mexico.
In my own state we have enjoyed a “Sister City” relationship between Ashland, Oregon and Guanajuato, Guanajuato for more than 50 years. It is a charming and wonderful cultural relationship.
In 2020, firefighters from Guanajuato came to Oregon to help with the forest fires during the pandemic. Before the vaccine. How brave. How generous.
In spite of all of our racism and hypocrisy in my country, President Sheinbaum demonstrated that our humanity is universal, without geopolitical borders.
Thank you to the Mexican people. You waited in very long lines and voted for a global force for good. You chose a politically astute woman. Thank you for your purple thumbs.
Thank you for your long and honorable tradition of support. And thank you for your friendship. May we continue to earn it and share it.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexican-president-didnt-send-rescue-181700867.html