| | |  Americas & Beyond 
Mexico Consul Braces for Fallout from Immigration Bill
 Daniel González - Arizona Republic
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May 12, 2010
| | Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero | |
The new consul general of Mexico in Phoenix said his office is preparing for an exodus from Arizona because of the state's stringent new immigration law, but he is appealing for Mexicans living here to remain calm because the law hasn't taken effect.
"We are sending the message. Stay calm. You don't have to take your kids right away (and leave)," Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero, 50, said Tuesday in his first interview since being appointed. "But if the school year ends, and the law is enforced, then you have to take proper action."
The consul general of Mexico in Phoenix oversees consulates in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Las Vegas and serves as the Mexican government's chief diplomat in Arizona and Nevada. The consulates serve Mexicans living legally and illegally abroad, including the 700,000 to 750,000 living in Arizona.
Treviño Escudero arrives in Arizona just 2 1/2 weeks after Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest anti-illegal-immigration law, which makes it a crime to be in the state without proper immigration papers. It also requires local and state police to get more involved in immigration matters by contacting federal immigration authorities when they encounter someone they reasonably suspect to be in the country illegally.
Supporters and opponents of the law say it could lead to a wave of immigrants leaving Arizona. They point to the more than 100,000 illegal immigrants who have left in the past two years because of the state's poor economy and earlier immigration crackdowns.
Treviño Escudero said that, as a Mexican official, he respects the sovereignty and laws of the United States, including Arizona's new immigration law.
"But that doesn't mean we have to like it," he said inside the offices of the Mexican Consulate on West Camelback Road in Phoenix.
Treviño Escudero was previously head of the consulate in Brownsville, Texas. His first official day in Phoenix was Tuesday, but he has been transitioning into the job for the past two weeks, replacing Carlos Flores Vizcarra, who was transferred to a consulate in North Carolina. Last week, Treviño Escudero hosted several high-level meetings at the consulate in Phoenix with Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan and Julian Ventura, Mexico's undersecretary for North America, to discuss the Mexican government's response to the new law.
In case the law results in a flood of Mexicans detained or arrested for possible immigration violations, the Mexican government is boosting to 11 from eight the number of people who work in the consulate's department in charge of protecting the rights of Mexicans in this country. The Mexican government also is considering filing legal briefs in support of several lawsuits that have been filed challenging the constitutionality of the law.
This week, the five Mexican consulates in Arizona - in Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales, Douglas and Yuma - will begin distributing thousands of brochures that include a toll-free number to call for legal advice and to report abuses by authorities.
The brochure advises "that in order to make the best decisions it is very important to stay calm. There is no reason to rush."
It also reminds people that the law doesn't take effect until July 29.
Immediately after the law was passed, the number of people visiting the consulate to apply for Mexican passports and Mexican birth certificates for their U.S.-born children jumped from about 20 a day to 100 a day, indicating that many people were considering leaving Arizona and returning to Mexico, Treviño Escudero.
The number has since dropped, a sign that people are waiting to see what happens with the law, he said.
Treviño Escudero said he is concerned the law fails to recognize the hard work and contributions of illegal immigrants to the state's economy.
He said the Mexican government does not condone illegal immigration.
"The idea is people should not cross illegally, but to understand that the people are here because of the markets that need them," he said. "Also, these are people with deep roots here, because many of them have U.S.-born children."
Treviño Escudero also is concerned the law will lead to police harassment and civil-rights violations of Mexicans who are living legally in Arizona, including Mexican-born residents who are naturalized U.S. citizens.
He has already met with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and representatives from several immigrant-rights and Latino organizations.
Danny Ortega, a Phoenix lawyer, said the new consul faces major challenges.
"He's going to have the regular run-of-the-mill challenges serving an area with a very large Mexican population," Ortega said. "And he is facing the potentially large consequences of the anti-immigrant environment we live in as well."
Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez(at)arizonarepublic.com
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