This Monday, August 28, Kansas, USA, began the Mobile Units of Consular Protection pilot program, which consists of traveling more than 3,600 kilometers and deploying consular protection information vehicles through more than 20 cities in the state. Information for the community about HB 2350 and its impact
This law went into effect in Kansas on July 1 and aims to punish those who transport undocumented people within or into the state with severe penalties. “Its wording encourages discrimination and racial profiling, in addition to punishing the crime of human trafficking, for which the state already has legislation,” the State Department (SRE) said.
The Mobile Consular Protection Units will begin in Dodge City, Ford County, in the presence of Honorary Consul Soileh Padilla Mayer and SRE Director General for Consular Protection and Strategic Planning, Vanessa Calva Ruiz.
They then travel to Garden City, where the Hispanic population makes up more than half of the city’s total population (52%), and visit cities of similar makeup to Liberal, Ulysses, Salina, Hays, Hutchinson, and others.
The SRE mentioned that the Mexican community in the region is mainly engaged in transportation, livestock, agriculture, meat processing, and dairy industries.
As part of the tour of the Mobile Consular Protection Units, meetings will be held with local police and bailiffs to highlight the importance of consular notification as well as the attention and follow-up provided by the Mexican government to potential cases of arbitrary abuses, acts, and violations of the rights of the Mexican people.
Community forums are also held, in which law firms and allied organizations participate to provide official, safe, and reliable information.
This pilot program was developed by the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City and the Department of State’s Directorate General for Consular Protection and Strategic Planning as part of the Preventive Protection Strategy endorsed by Secretary of State Alicia Bárcena Ibarra.
