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Mexico’s top diplomat for North American affairs Carlos Sada made a historic visit to San Antonio Friday to present a birth certificate to 3-year-old Dafne Ruiz Torres, whose birth was not registered in Mexico, her home country.
It was the first time the Mexican Consulate in San Antonio issued such a document under a new law that allows Mexican officials to administer identification papers to those like Ruiz, who are without them. The law is meant to make it easier for Mexican individuals to apply for and obtain U.S. work permits, driver’s licenses, passports, consular IDs, and to provide protection from deportation.
“It is the obligation of the Mexican state and any country to give its citizens the possibility of having the adequate documents to prove you exist,” Sada said Friday at the Mexican Consulate. “The right to identity is consecrated in the Mexican constitution.”
Sada previously served as Mexican Ambassador to the United States before handing the baton to Gerónimo Gutiérrez last month, the former head of the San Antonio-based North American Development Bank. Sada also served as Consul General of Mexico in San Antonio from 1995-2000, and is generally regarded as the most effective diplomat to have held that position in the last 25 years.
“As a result of the reforms made to the Mexican Foreign Service Law and its regulations, as of Feb. 17, ambassadors and consuls around the world may issue birth certificates to individuals whose births were not registered in Mexico,” Sada told the Rivard Report.
President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders calling for a crackdown on immigration enforcement has created a fearful wave of immigrants who are now descending to consulates across the U.S. seeking assistance. Many are asking to renew their passports or get the necessary paperwork for their U.S. born children to apply for Mexican citizenship to ensure their family isn’t separated.
“What comes next we don’t know,” Sada said. “But we are very preoccupied with some cases where the rights of our people are being violated, so that is why the consulates now have centers of defense or advocacy centers, to give them the best protection and legal counsel.”
During a time of great uncertainty, when getting a speeding ticket or a simple knock at the door can mean possible deportation, Mexican consulates are encouraging all Mexican nationals and undocumented immigrants to be prepared.
“I want to thank the Mexican consulate for making this possible because it’s a very important document and thanks to that, now she is going to be someone,” said Dafne’s mother Yesenia Torres, who crossed over to the U.S. with her husband Daniel Ruiz when she was 16 years old. At the time, Dafne was only four months old. The family is originally from Guanajuato, Mexico.
“Thanks to this document my daughter can now have medical insurance, because I have to prove who she is. Without this she couldn’t enroll in school either, and now she can.”
On March 4, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray traveled to New York City to deliver the first birth certificate issued by a Mexican consulate to another child from the Mexican state of Morelos who came to the U.S. with her family, Sada said. Although there isn’t an official estimate, Sada said a huge amount of Mexicans don’t have have birth certificates in Mexico or abroad because they never applied for the document due to living in poverty or in places that are far away from government offices.
“Many times someone who [lives illegally in the U.S.] and doesn’t have a birth certificate is forced to take out false documents, and [sometimes], that is enough cause to get deported or get taken to prison for identity theft,” Sada said. “That is very delicate.”
Many places around the U.S. recognize certain Mexican documents, he added, so the fact that individuals can attain their birth certificates from Mexican consulates in the U.S. is a game changer. Before, individuals were required to physically go to Mexico in order to get this document, so many could not travel back due to their undocumented status.
“With a Mexican birth certificate you can enroll in school, but this also helps families who want to apply for their Mexican passport or matrícula consular (consular ID) independently whether they decide to stay here or go back to Mexico,” Sada said. “In places like California, for illegal immigrants to apply for a driver’s license, they need to show a Mexican passport or a consular ID. Some banks around the U.S. recognize the consular ID as a form of identification.”
According to experts, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants working in U.S. restaurant kitchens, fields, construction sites, attending U.S. schools, and flooding detention centers and immigration courts.
“People are coming to us saying, ‘I’m afraid to get deported or get separated from my children,’ and that’s something we can’t avoid if someone has a problem or an order of deportation, but we can help you by ensuring that due process and U.S. laws themselves are complied with,” Sada told the crowd of Mexican nationals gathered at the consulate. “You have a right to legal counsel in immigration matters, which is why we established centers of defense in all consulates, with the idea of protecting your interests.
“We are hiring more immigration lawyers during this difficult and uncertain time. Don’t leave anything to speculation…even a minor offense is enough for you to end up getting deported … It’s important for families to come in so we can start a diagnosis and analyze everyone’s unique situation.”
Torres is somewhat hopeful now that her daughter finally has a form of identification, but she is still living in fear waiting to see what Trump does next regarding immigration policy changes.
“Right now we are very scared and preoccupied with everything that Trump is saying,” Torres said. “If we have to go back to Mexico, then we’ll go back because we don’t want to be somewhere where we are not wanted. Personally, I would like to stay here since I can give my daughter a better life and she can thrive in school here, and I just feel there are better life opportunities – but we’ll see.”
