SAN ANTONIO – The Mexican Consulate has posted advice on its website on what to do if agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement knock on the doors of Mexican nationals.
“Don’t open the door. Don’t say anything,” said Jose Antonio Larios, the deputy consul general of Mexico in San Antonio. “Don’t panic. Create your safety plan.”
Larios said the consulate issued the recommendations in light of recent deportations making national news.
“We are very concerned about this bad situation,” Larios said.
Larios urges Mexican citizens here to go to the consulate to register their children. He said the consulate can also help in other ways.
“We can issue passports. We can issue birth certificates and consular identifications as IDs,” he said.
Larios said the Mexican Consulate also is reaching out to its citizens through its Center for Information and Assistance for Mexican Nationals with a 24-hour help hotline. He said they’ve also added phone lines at the consulate in downtown San Antonio.
Larios said the consulate plans to hold informational workshops in coordination with local community and immigrant groups. He said that all of those picked up by ICE in the past week have had criminal backgrounds. However, he said the consulate checks on them “to make certain their human rights are protected.”
Larios said he’s noticed the required consular notifications of people who are picked up by ICE have “not been as frequent” as in the past.
An ICE spokeswoman said the agency is looking into the matter.
Sign up for email alerts today.
Get alerted to news events as they happen or sign up for a scheduled news headline email that is delivered right to your inbox.
All of the day’s important news keeping you up to date wherever you are.
Click here to sign up today.