Mexico’s government has announced a new program to provide emergency legal and consular assistance to migrants in the United States. The move comes as Mexico prepares for the expected mass deportation wave from the incoming administration of President-Elect Donald J. Trump.
On Friday morning, during a news conference hosted by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s Foreign Relations Minister Juan Ramon De La Fuente announced that his staff had a new program called PALE (Program of External Legal Advisory) that had a series of attorneys, law firms, and advisors in the U.S. that had volunteered to assist consular officials and migrants in case they faced issues with immigration authorities in that country. During the presentation, they also announced the development of an application that would act as a panic button that individuals could press and be patched to consular officials and legal assistance.
The program has a call center where Mexicans in the U.S. can call and be immediately connected to their nearest consulate for legal assistance.
“To deport someone from the United States, a judicial order is needed,” De La Fuente said. “There needs to have been a final deportation or removal sentence, as they call it in legal terms.”
The diplomat said that after the order is submitted, migrants will be detained and have to go before a judge for various hearings.
“For there to be a deportation, there has to be an order from a judge that shows it,” he said, “and that is where we are going to be very vigilant to make sure that due process is followed.”
De La Fuente said that each of the 53 consulates in the U.S. would have a local plan of action to assist Mexican nationals. Each consulate would also be working with various NGOs, churches, and universities to provide additional help to migrants facing immigration issues.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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