Consulate of Mexico holds mobile consulate in Catholic Center
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The Consulate of Mexico’s first mobile consulate in Jefferson City will certainly not be its last.
Head Consul Soileh Padilla-Mayer of the Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City declared her staff’s June 24-25 outing to the Capital City both a success and a delight.
“This has been a beautiful experience,” she said. “People have been super-polite, nice, understanding, patient.”
Ms. Padilla-Mayer and her staff produced Mexican passports and consular IDs for citizens of Mexico and helped them apply for credentials to vote absentee in their homeland.
The consulate in Kansas City, one of 51 in the United States, is an agency of the Mexican government’s Secretary of Foreign Relations.
“We’re a staff of about 25 people,” said Ms. Padilla-Mayer. “We operate the consulate in Kansas City during the week, and then we travel to different cities on weekends to provide our services to people who can’t travel to Kansas City.”
El Puente-Hispanic Ministry served as the host agency for the consulate’s visit, assisted by volunteers from Catholic Charites of Central and Northern Missouri (CCCNMO).
Originally slated for the El Puente headquarters in Jefferson City, the mobile consulate was moved to the Jefferson City diocese’s Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center, in collaboration with CCCNMO.
The consulate staff hosted 190 appointments on Saturday and 30 on Sunday.
It’s painstaking work.
“I tell people, ‘It’s not producing tortillas. It’s documents — very high-security documents. So, it takes some time,’” said Ms. Padilla-Mayer.
“Sometimes, people complain and want us to rush it,” she noted. “But, here, everyone has been super-polite, super-patient.”
She believes having many friendly volunteers from El Puente and CCCNMO.
“From the beginning, even from the parking lot, the volunteers have been telling them, ‘Okay, you have your appointment. Welcome. Come on in,’” she stated. “So, they arrive in a very good mood.”
The Mexican passport expedites travel from the United States to Mexico.
The consular ID makes it easier for someone from Mexico to open a bank account in the United States. It also helps authorities contact loved ones in an emergency.
Both documents contain microchips and dozens of security measures to prevent counterfeiting.
Ms. Padilla-Mayer said that upon taking up her role last summer as head consul for the division of the Mexican Consulate serving Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, she visited the capitols of all three states.
“I found out that we’d never had a mobile consulate in Jefferson City, which I found strange because it’s the state capital,” she said. “So, we decided to come.”
Looking for a proper venue and a local agency to cooperate with, the consulate contacted El Puente.
“They were very eager to help us,” Ms. Padilla-Mayer stated. “And El Puente also helped us in promoting our services to the people they serve.”
Most of the people making appointments at the weekend consulate were from Jefferson City and nearby communities — although some travelled from as far as Springfield or Kansas City.
“Having the majority come from the Jefferson City area told us that having it here was helpful and convenient,” said Ms. Padilla-Mayer.
Moises Sosa, a U.S. Department of Justice-accredited representative with Catholic Charities Family Immigration Services, spoke highly of a Mexican Consulate program called “Know Your Rights.”
“This program provides immigrants with tools and training necessary to know and understand their rights in this country,” Mr. Sosa stated. “People were very happy with the service they received. Some of them told me that they were very fortunate to have this event in our diocese.”
Based on the success of this first mobile consulate, she hopes to hold similar events in Jefferson City two or three times a year in the future.
“It was a great success and we helped a lot of people get the documents they need,” the head consul stated. “We’re looking forward to coming back.”
She asked for prayers for her and her staff to have the energy to do more consulates throughout their three-state territory — “and to have partners such as the Catholic diocese, El Puente and Catholic Charities that we can rely on.”
