FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Inside the Mexican Consulate in northeast Fresno, staff say they have seen a growing need for services.
Head Consul, Irma Pimentel Portilla, says many of them are considering a difficult and life-altering decision.
“You are integrating yourself and your family into a society that you don’t really know because you live in another country, so socially, it’s a huge problem for families,” she said.
For those choosing to return to Mexico or at risk for deportation, officials say, preparation is key.
They encourage Mexican nationals to have important documents ready.
“Any type of protective order that’s really important, and we are recommending to our community to talk about this plan with all the members of the family,” says Valeria Solorio Sepulveda.
Aside from documentation, programs like Mexico Te Abraza, or “Mexico Embraces You,” help returnees apply for work, providing certification of skills learned while in the US.
Once they arrive across the border, offices near major ports of entry offer assistance with transportation, paperwork and connecting families with services to help them return to their hometowns.
Outside the consulate, we met Juan, a farmworker from Merced who’s already weighing those decisions.
Despite 30 years in the US working in the fields, paying taxes and raising a family, Juan says he never had a path to legal residency.
Now at 60 years old, he says work is getting harder to find and the fear of immigration enforcement is always at the back of his mind.
Whether he stays or leaves, the Mexican Consulate says having documents and a plan can make a difficult situation a little less overwhelming.
