MEXICO CITY, Nov. 17 (UPI) — Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday released a list of measures “to protect the Mexican community” from abuse and fraud in the United States.
“We want to inform you over the possible immigration actions … that from February could affect you,” Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu said in a video message directed to Mexican civilians living in the United States.
“We will be closer than ever to inform you, accompany you and defend you. In thee moments, being united is most important. You are not alone. We are with you.”
The measures were released in a statement on the ministry’s website a week after the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump. Massieu told Radio Fórmula that the National Conference of Governors is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the effects Mexico could see from a Trump administration.
Under the measures, Mexicans living in the United States — whether legally or illegally — will be able to communicate with Mexican officials through toll-free phone numbers in order to receive information about immigration, or to report incidents of abuse or fraud.
The Mexican community will also be encouraged to use a free phone application connecting them to Mexican consulates in the United States, the ministry said.
The ministry said that consulate hours will be extended and that Mexico’s government hopes to strengthen relationships with U.S.-based civil rights organizations.
The ministry will also “call on communities to avoid any situation of conflict and not to take actions that may lead to administrative or criminal sanctions.”
On Monday, a spokesman for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said the government is working on a plan to deal with mass deportations under Trump’s presidency.
One of Trump’s promises within his first 100 days in office is to “begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.”
Though one of Trump’s campaign promises was initially to deport all undocumented immigrants — estimated to be about 12 million — living in the United States, the president-elect for now has focused on deporting up to 3 million undocumented migrants who “are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers.”
