The holder of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of MexicoMarcelo Ebrard announced changes in consular services to protect Mexicans in the US and Canada.
The foreign minister specified that new actions will be added in terms of legal defense in criminal matters; information and assistance to Mexicans abroad; scheduling of appointments; simultaneous translation in indigenous languages; regulation of consular registrations; continuous improvement in customer service; and an increase in salary compensation for staff.
These actions, he said, will take effect in the coming weeks at consular offices in North America.
Ebrard stressed that these actions will be aimed at providing increasingly comprehensive, modern, efficient and inclusive services, under the instruction of the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to provide consular protection to Mexicans abroad, a priority in foreign policy.
"In the United States, each of these measures has a huge impact," the foreign minister added. "It has to do not only with the daily lives of our fellow citizens, but with us realizing that they are part of the Mexican nation and we have to defend them and give them that support. They are part of the nation and that is why we are very pleased to announce these measures."
For his part, the head of the Unit for North America, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, stressed that "there is no other country in the world that provides such a large number of consular services outside its territory."
The Criminal Defense Program for Mexicans in the United States (PDM) will serve as a complement to the legal mechanisms and services existing in the consular network in the United States. It will provide consular protection to people facing serious criminal legal proceedings, given the complexity of the U.S. system, and will seek to reduce the incidence of Mexican people serving sentences for crimes they did not commit and/or who have been victims of disproportionate sentences.
The PDM will serve Mexicans who face criminal proceedings for: a) serious crimes in which they have not admitted guilt and for which there are sufficient legal elements to presume their innocence; b) who have received disproportionate sentences due to systemic injustices, and c) who belong to vulnerable populations.
Starting in May, the Information and Assistance Centre for Mexican Citizens (CIAM) in Canada will be expanding its services to address queries from Mexican citizens in that country.
CIAM provides a humane and reliable response to the information needs of Mexicans residing in the United States, and now in Canada, as well as their relatives in Mexico, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The information provided by this center includes the legal status of persons detained for immigration and criminal reasons, the status of minors in the custody of authorities, the location of persons, information about labor rights, immigration news, assistance to victims of fraud or human trafficking, among others.
Meanwhile, the new WhatsApp appointment service will facilitate access to consular services and prevent users from resorting to agents who advertise in a misleading manner. Thus, starting May 22, appointments for all Mexican consulates in the United States and Canada can be scheduled through WhatsApp. This service will be available at the number: 424 309 0009.
Simultaneous translation into indigenous languages will be available starting May 15, which will allow us to serve the population that requires it in any of the five main indigenous languages spoken in Mexico for all our services.
Simultaneous translation will be provided using a telephone service and will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Central Time.
In addition, the new Consular Registration Regulations will eliminate the restriction on processing the registration at the consular office corresponding to the person's domicile. In other words, it will allow people to obtain this document at any consulate regardless of their place of residence in the United States.
The continuous improvement programme will provide consular staff with tools to provide better service to the public, with sensitivity, kindness and respect for human rights.
The continuous improvement programme will be complementary to the training that the Matías Romero Institute already provides to consulate staff; its implementation will begin in June and will be mandatory for all diplomatic and independent professional services staff.
Finally, the salary increase for Professional Service Providers will allow adequate compensation for staff who serve the public, particularly those who receive lower wages.
In this way, the compensation for Professional Service Providers in all Mexican representations in the United States and Canada will be increased by percentages from 5.9 to 14 percent, taking as a reference the cost of living in the city, inflationary changes and local official salaries.
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