How Mexican consulates are bracing for Trump deportations
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Now that President Trump's ramped-up deportation plan is taking effect, Mexican Consul General Alberto Fierro has a message for his compatriots: stay calm but get prepared.
Why it matters: Fierro oversees the Mexican consulate in Boston, one of 53 Mexican consulates in the U.S. mobilizing in response to the Trump administration's policies.
- They're promoting long-existing services and rolling out new resources, including the mobile app ConsulApp Contigo.
Driving the news: The consulate, located in the Financial District, is holding "Know Your Rights" workshops for small groups daily, encouraging Mexicans to obtain dual citizenship for their U.S.-born children and helping nationals at risk of deportation with paperwork.
- Officials continue to work with local immigrant advocacy groups and have renewed the consulate's contract with immigration attorneys. They've also launched virtual open-hours sessions on social media on Thursdays.
The latest: ConsulApp Contigo rolled out last week on Android and Apple devices.
- It asks users to register with the consulate and name emergency contacts.
- Users who are detained can push a button on the app that notifies their local consulate and emergency contacts.
- The app also lets users schedule appointments with the consulate and shares information about their rights when stopped by immigration agents.
The Boston-based consulate serves an estimated 150,000 Mexican-born residents across New England — a small fraction of the roughly 11 million Mexicans in the U.S.
- But the consulate's work shows how countries outside the U.S. are responding to the Trump administration's deportation plans.
What they're saying: Fierro says the consulates have always offered many of these services, but "I don't think ever the whole network of consulates was working so, so tirelessly and as coordinated as this time."
- "During the first [Trump] administration, there was the threat of deportations, but not as massive as he has promised to do it this time."
Flashback: Trump's relationship with Mexico has been fraught since he first announced his candidacy in 2015, saying Mexico was sending "rapists" and criminals to the U.S.
- That relationship has only grown more tumultuous as Trump has brought back his deportation-related policies and called to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."
An estimated 4 million Mexicans in the U.S. are undocumented, per the Pew Research Center.
- Immigration agents are currently looking for those who already have orders of deportation, especially those convicted of felonies and certain misdemeanors.
Yes, but: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reportedly searched and detained people who don't have orders of deportation, like undocumented immigrants without a criminal record and U.S. citizens in a few states other than Massachusetts.
What we're watching: How other nations' consulates respond to the Trump administration's deportation strategies.