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The Mexican government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), announced that it will implement a cell phone application that will have an “alert button” so that immigrants who are facing imminent arrest can receive support from the nearest consulate.

During the morning press conference of the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who specified that this “alert button” will send a message in real time to predetermined personal contacts, the nearest consulate and the SRE.

“Soon, you will also have the option of activating, through a very simple procedure, an 'alert button', which has already been put into practice on a small scale in some places and seems to be working very well, where, in the event that you find yourself facing an imminent arrest, you press an alert button, this sends a signal to the nearest consulate and to the relatives that you have previously preloaded in that application and of course to the foreign ministry in Mexico, so that this would allow us to be alert at the moment in which someone perceives the imminent risk that they could be subject to arrest,” said De la Fuente.

The Alert Button was created in conjunction with the Digital Transformation Agency and will be implemented across the United States on January 6, 2025.

The idea is that it will be a very simple application, because we want it fundamentally for cases of real emergency, at the moment when you need it. When might you need it? When you feel that you are facing an imminent arrest," explained the Mexican foreign minister.

And, he explained, if someone, for whatever reason, is detained, regardless of their immigration status, the consulate must be informed, something that, by law, the agency that carried out the detention would have to do.

In addition, he said, there is a centre for information and assistance to Mexicans abroad, which already operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

From the United States and Canada, Mexican citizens can call 520 623 7874, while from Mexico they can dial 001 520 623 7874.

This is to guide them on issues related to their rights abroad and how consulates can help them exercise them, among others.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also implemented consular protection in legal matters, with a Legal Assistance Program through External Legal Advisors (PALE), strengthened with 329 contracts for legal advice and representation in labor, civil, criminal, immigration, and administrative matters; in addition to verification of due process and the guarantee of consular notification.

Likewise, the permanent updating of anti-immigrant laws and state actions has been added through an observatory which can be consulted at https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/index.php/observatorio-de-leyes-y-medidas-antiinmigrantes.

“Legal counsels must consider these three legal frameworks and an important part of what they will do and are already beginning to do is to ensure that due process is followed, and that they notify our consulates, as established by international conventions, when they detain any person, regardless of their immigration status,” the official stressed.

The “Know and Exercise Your Rights” Program has also been established to prevent and respond quickly to arrests, raids and other intimidating actions.

He said that each consulate has developed a Local Action Plan that includes specific recommendations on what to do and what not to do, as well as a community support network that includes churches, universities, organizations, Mexican-American businesspeople, health services, among others, who support and accompany migrants.

The Mexican foreign minister stressed that there is and will be greater consular presence in prisons and processing and detention centers, both from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).

Among the actions that are added to this protection network are direct contact with the communities: with the expansion of the services they receive from the Government of Mexico through IMSS, Infonavit, SAT and Financiera para el Bienestar; with the attention of compatriots who return to Mexico either voluntarily or through deportation, as well as their families, as well as guidance and support to protect their assets.

Likewise, “Open Door Consulates”, a program that seeks to hold regular sessions at consular offices through mobile consulates or in community spaces, as well as to listen directly to the needs of the community and counter misinformation, and create a communication strategy with a preventive focus.

In this regard, he reiterated that dialogue will be promoted with mayors, councilors, governors, and federal and state legislators of the United States.

Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente explained that there are 38.4 million Mexicans in the United States, of which 11.5 million are first generation and 4.8 million are undocumented; while 26.9 million are second generation.

In this regard, he noted that from January to October 2024, Mexican compatriots are living in the United States under particular conditions: 433,840 are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); 314,196 belong to H2A visas, a permit that allows American employers to hire foreign workers to perform temporary or seasonal agricultural work; 14,070 to TN visas, a non-immigrant visa that allows citizens of Canada and Mexico to work temporarily in the United States; and 99,884 H2B visas, a document that allows foreigners to work temporarily in the American Union in non-agricultural jobs.

On the other hand, he explained that on December 18, 2023, 12,498 encounters of people in an irregular migratory situation were recorded, the highest number in history; while, from that date to December 23, 2024, the number of encounters was 3,139, which means a decrease of 81 percent, so that, as of July 2024, the flows have stabilized.

To serve its Mexican compatriots, Mexico has the largest consular network in the world in a single country, such as the United States, with 53 consulates, the first one founded in 1824 in New Orleans and the last one in 2023 in New Brunswick, which together have added up to a total of 5 million 202 thousand 480 consular procedures from January 1 to December 26 of this 2024.

He added that Mexicans represent a very important workforce for the United States: In 2023, the US GDP was 27.4 trillion dollars, of which it is estimated that approximately 8 percent was generated by the population of Mexican origin.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Mexicans in the United States had an income of 340.9 billion dollars, of which 17.9 percent, or 60.9 billion dollars, are sent to Mexico as remittances; and 280 billion dollars stay in the United States, which means 82.1 percent of what they work for.

In turn, Juan Ramón de la Fuente explained that it is estimated that undocumented Mexican migrants contributed around 42.6 billion dollars in taxes to the U.S. government; while Mexican migrants in general contributed around 121.5 billion dollars.

“They are workers who make an important contribution to the development of their communities there and who, of course, play a fundamental role in supporting their families in Mexico.”

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