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As immigrants settle in U.S., 'mobile consulates' become common
By DANIEL CONNOLLY
Saturday, April 22, 2006 3:47 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK - As immigrant communities spring up in the U.S. far from the traditional entry points of Miami and New York, foreign nations are trying to keep pace with their countrymen through mobile consulates.

The trend was apparent Saturday in Little Rock, where Venezuela had its first mobile consulate in Arkansas.

"It was world-class service," said Epaminondas Hernandez Oliveros, who drove from Memphis, Tenn., with his wife and two children to renew their Venezuelan passports.

Representatives of other Latin American nations say they frequently have mobile consulates, naming such locales as Birmingham, Ala., and Elkhart, Ind. Some say the numbers are increasing.

Mobile consulates typically are advertised in Spanish-language media, held in churches or restaurants, and last a day. Among the services, the country's representative may issue documents from home and register births and marriages.

Guatemala is increasing its mobile consulates, said Hector Palacios with the Guatemalan consulate in Washington. "And we are reaching far more in the states," he said.

"There are a lot of Guatemalans but they don't live in the cities. They live in rural areas."

The government of Mexico also is scheduling more mobile consulates, said Eduardo Rea, spokesman for the Mexican consulate in Dallas.

"Every time we try to provide more services and to reach areas that before we hadn't reached," he said. "So that's the reason we go to different communities, some of them very, very far away from Dallas."

Mexico plans to establish a permanent base in Arkansas later this year when it opens a consulate in Little Rock. Meanwhile, the government has had mobile consulates. In Rogers, for instance, 500 to 1,000 people may show up at a one-day program, Rea said.

Mobile consulates allow immigrants to use birth certificates and other documents sent from home to obtain passports or consular identification cards from their countries. The governments issue the documents regardless of whether the person entered the United States legally or not.

On their own, the foreign documents don't give immigrants the right to remain in the United States or work in the country. But they can give immigrants greater access to some services, consular representatives say.

"We always tell them, it doesn't matter if you are legal or illegal in this country, you have to have your Honduran passport," said Fabio Murillo, a chancellor with the consulate of Honduras in Chicago.

A passport allows an immigrant to take a quick flight home in an emergency or to marry, he said. And Murillo predicts that if the U.S. government ever approves a program to legalize illegal immigrants, immigration officials will demand passports from applicants.

The Venezuelan mobile consulate Saturday was held in a Little Rock office building. Lourdes Madriz, Venezuela's consul in New Orleans, sat at a table and filled out documents as those waiting chatted.

Madriz hadn't expected many people to show up and only about 20 had dropped by halfway through the four-hour session but Madriz pointed out that it was a first for Arkansas. Several of those who came said they appreciated the service.

Luis Higuera, 35, of Nashville, Tenn., who came to renew his passport, exchanged phone numbers with other Venezuelans in the office and urged them to stay in touch.

"This event is not only about renewing your passport, but being able to make connections with others," he said.

Hernandez Oliveros, 47, who drove from Memphis, said his two children are patients at St. Jude Children's hospital. About two weeks ago, he drove seven hours, from Memphis to New Orleans, to renew the passports, but couldn't resolve the issue, he said.

Consular officials told him to try again at the mobile consulate in Little Rock. The drive Saturday was about two-and-a-half hours, making it much easier to travel with his children, who had to be present to sign the papers.