Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010

Mexican parents obtain dual citizenship for U.S.-born child

By ANDREA CASTILLO - acastillo@macon.com

On the morning of Jan. 15, Olga Torres, 40, and her husband, Rodolfo De Leon, 46, woke up at 4 a.m. to make sure they arrived at the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta before 7 a.m.

The two, who are from Mexico and permanent residents of the United States, made the trek nearly three weeks ago to register their daughter Genesis, who will be 3 years old in March, as a citizen of both countries.


JOY LEWIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS Olga Torres and her husband, Rodolfo De Leon, obtained dual American-Mexican citizenship for their 2-year-old American-born daughter Genesis De Leon. They did so through a campaign being offered by the Mexican government.


During a campaign that was initially to run Jan. 12-15, the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta has allowed parents to bring their children to the consulate by 7 a.m. each day to register for dual Mexican-American citizenship. To do so, the child must have been born in the United States and have at least one Mexican parent. Usually, the consulate takes only 20 applications each weekday, but during the campaign the consulate has attended to everyone who arrived by 7 a.m. Because of high demand, the campaign has been extended through Feb. 12, according to the consulate’s Web site.

During the campaign, an average of 40 people have visited the consulate each day, and the number peaked at 87, said Armando Bello, spokesman for the consulate.

“In case they want to go back to Mexico, they can go back as Mexican citizens. If they want to come to the U.S., they can come back as American citizens,â€