ST. PAUL, MN — The Mexican Consulate in St. Paul has plans to expand its current services to Mexican-Americans in wake of a Trump presidency according to a new KSTP report.
The expansion of service, a directorate of the Mexican government, comes at a time when fears in migrant communities are on the rise due to promises of deportation by the Trump campaign.
While the consulate was unavailable for comment, Geraldo Guererro tells Joe Augustine of KSTP that “people need to talk and to feel that they are not alone.”
In the weeks following the election, local officials around the country, including Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, have continued to advocate for sanctuary cities and protection of all migrant populations within their jurisdiction – no matter their legal status.
President-elect Trump has vowed to cut federal funding from cities who hold the moniker of sanctuary city and deport 3 million illegal immigrants who have criminal records.
According to Pew Research on Hispanic trends, Minnesota has approximately 100,000 unauthorized immigrants living in its borders as of 2014.
KSTP notes that approximately 43,000 unauthorized immigrants in Minnesota are originally from Mexico.
However, the trend of deportation at the hands of a Trump administration would in fact be a continuation of the Obama administration’s own agenda.
A report by ABC News shows that President Obama has rightfully earned the nickname “Deporter in Chief.” Data shows that the Obama administration has deported more undocumented immigrants than past presidents before him. The Obama administration has deported 2.4 million undocumented immigrants during his eight year presidency.
Deportations and crackdowns of undocumented immigrants and the individuals who hire them are not new to Minnesota.
In 2009, 1,200 janitors in Minneapolis were fired in a raid by authorities. Several smaller raids have occurred since then.
While a deportation plan has not been revealed to the public by the Trump administration, time will tell how Mexican-American relations will be affected by an expansion of the deportation defense system on a local and national level.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
