Mexican consul from Little Rock encourages advocacy for illegal immigration

Andres Chao - Mexico's consul for their new outpost in Little Rock, Arkansas - visited Memphis and spoke to the "local Mexican community" at an event organized by the Hispanic Business Alliance:

...The office has faced heavy demand for Mexican passports and matricula consular identification cards since its official opening in April, he said. Chao said there's a six-week waiting list for the in-person appointments required to get the documents...

...Chao said the Little Rock consulate, which is about two hours' drive from Memphis, doesn't plan more mobile consulate events here this year. It will hold them in places much further away from Little Rock, such as southern Mississippi.

In response to a question about new laws in Tennessee and other states meant to crack down on illegal immigration, Chao said he can only go so far in his advocacy.

"As a diplomat, I have a limit," he said. But he said the civil leaders gathered in the room could do more and expressed hope that many such laws would be found unconstitutional.

He is, in effect, encouraging those "civil leaders" to advocate for illegal immigration.

Recall that in 2003, Arkansas governor Mick Huckabee asked Vicente Fox to build their new consulate in Little Rock. He even temporarily housed them in a state agency office at a rental rate of $1 per year.

Immigration_consul · Sun, 07/29/2007 - 11:15 · · Importance: 1