McALLEN — The Mexican Consulate here wants to help Mexican nationals be prepared in case they unexpectedly have to leave the country.
It launched a new campaign this week, “Protect Your Important Documents,” to encourage Mexicans living in Hidalgo, Starr and Brooks Counties to organize their paperwork and have it easily accessible.
“The (Mexican) community is asking for the support of the consulate in face of the uncertainty that exists in the state of Texas and along the border region about what could happen to them given possible migratory actions leading to deportation,” Guillermo Ordorica Robles, Mexico’s consul general in McAllen, said in Spanish.
Starting this week, all visitors to the consulate will receive a complimentary file folder in which to store identification and financial documents, such as birth certificates, passports, consular ID cards, bank statements, tax returns and academic certificates.
Consular officials gave out more than 200 folders on Monday alone.
Ordorica Robles attributes rising uncertainty in the community to anti-immigrant rhetoric nationwide and the passage of Senate Bill 4 in Texas.
SB 4, which is set to take effect Sept. 1, allows local law enforcement officers to ask people, who have been arrested or detained, about their immigration status. It also mandates cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“People fear, which is normal, that they could be deported at any moment,” Ordorica Robles said.
Since Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law on May 7, the number of Mexicans in Texas calling the Center for Information and Assistance for Mexicans increased 678 percent compared to May and June of last year, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CIAM is a 24-hour hotline run by Mexico’s network of U.S. consulates.
Ordorica Robles also said the McAllen consulate has seen an increase in Mexican nationals requesting legal information and expedited consular documents.
“We are encouraging people to come to the consulate to inform themselves and to obtain their documents — their birth certificate, voter ID, consular ID card — so in case they have to leave the country, they’ll do so in an orderly manner,” he said. “The consulate is their ally — we’re going to support them and represent them.”
