Fearful Immigrants Flood Mexican Consulates in U.S.
Source: MSN/New York Times
LOS ANGELES First came the anxious calls in the days after the election of President Trump. Now, people begin lining up before 8 a.m. and crowd the waiting rooms inside the Mexican Consulate here.
Mexican citizens come to renew passports that have been unused for more than a decade. They desperately ask lawyers if they can do anything to help them stay in the United States. They register their children for Mexican citizenship, just in case they are sent back and decide to move their whole family with them.
When the consulate began to get reports of dozens of Mexicans being arrested by immigration officials last week, they immediately dispatched lawyers to the federal detention center downtown. Officers closely monitored social media, simultaneously trying to get information and quash unfounded rumors. In one case, they helped a man whom immigration officials had quickly sent to the border for deportation return to Los Angeles for a hearing in immigration court.
These are demanding times for the 50 Mexican consulates scattered throughout the United States. With Mr. Trumps promise to crack down on immigrants living in the United States illegally and an executive order that vastly expands who is considered a priority for deportation, Mexicans living here illegally are increasingly on edge.
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fearful-immigrants-flood-mexican-consulates-in-us/ar-AAn3Zd2?ocid=spartandhp