Mexican Consul Roberto Dondisch has had a busy few weeks. Based in Seattle, he’s been talking with officials and Mexican nationals around the state, planning trips to see more and putting together a local plan to help a population deeply rattled by the election of Donald Trump.
His message: “Be calm but be prepared.”
Now is the time to get documents in order should their immigration status be questioned.
“People are concerned, because they want to know what the elections mean for them,” said the consul, 41, who came to Seattle four months ago after serving as head of global issues for Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking at the Belltown consulate, he marveled that it doesn’t matter what someone’s immigration status is. Even green-card holders are nervous in the face of an administration headed by Trump, who during the campaign portrayed undocumented Mexican immigrants as criminals and called for mass deportation.
Dondisch was just back from the Tri-Cities, and planned a trip to Yakima in the coming weeks as part of an intensified effort to bring what he called a “consulate on wheels” to different parts of the state.
The trips, to take place every two weeks, are in keeping with an 11-point plan released after the election by Mexico’s foreign ministry. Other measures in the plan include a national toll-free hotline — 1-877-632-6678 — for dispensing legal help and other urgent assistance. Counselors will even come on the line to offer emotional support, Dondisch said.
Nearly 800,000 people of Mexican heritage live in Washington state, according to the consul’s figures. He said they represent the vast majority of Washington’s Latinos, now the largest ethnic group other than whites in the state, making up roughly 12 percent of the population.
Rights and Paperwork
As he steps up his outreach, Dondisch emphasizes that any policy changes in the new administration are not likely to happen overnight. At the same time, he urges people to get their documents together — both American ones, such as tax and school records, and Mexican documents such as passports for American-born children. While hesitant to spell out the reasons, he allowed that such documents may become necessary if people are threatened with deportation.
