The consul as lightning rod
By David Sedeño
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Star-Telegram/Stewart F. House

Enrique Hubbard Urrea is a career Mexican diplomat, having served in a variety of posts in the United States and Brazil and as his country's ambassador to Belize and the Philippines.

He has had to navigate sensitive bilateral issues while promoting his country and offering assistance to his countrymen wherever he has been stationed.

But when the Mexican consul for North Texas, based in Dallas, issued a few words of warning to his countrymen last month about what he viewed as racial profiling by Irving police, he not only caught everyone's attention but ignited a firestorm of criticism from many parts of the country and abroad.

For the moment, Hubbard has become the lightning rod in this country's immigration debate at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are stepping up raids nationwide and more and more communities are looking for ways to limit illegal immigrants' access to state and local services.

After nearly 2,000 people protested the actions of Irving police last month, numerous people responded to a Star-Telegram story about the demonstration. Many of them took aim at Hubbard.

"The law is the law and those that break it are subject to arrest regardless of race," one letter writer said. "For Mr. Urrea to imply his citizens should be exempt is discrimination against any other race."

Hubbard said he has been vilified on dozens of blogs and various radio and television talk shows for his statements and his continued stance. He has been told that he is meddling in national internal affairs in a way that would surely get U.S. citizens kicked out of Mexico.

Hubbard is fluent in four languages and says that, thus far, he has answered all e-mails sent to him. He says he reminds letter writers that "being in this country without documents is a civil offense, not a criminal one."

He also frequently quotes the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of rights to anyone finding themselves within its jurisdiction.

"If they were targeting only who they call the criminal aliens who have committed crimes, there would be no problem, but that's not what's happening," he says.

"Plus, if the U.S. State Department can say, 'Don't go to Oaxaca,' I think I can say, 'Don't go to Irving,'" he says.

I first encountered Hubbard more than 20 years ago, when he was the Mexican consul in Brownsville and I was an Associated Press correspondent in the Rio Grande Valley. We didn't cross paths much in those days, but since his appointment in Dallas last year, we have seen each other at numerous events.

He recently completed staff changes that will help him carry out much-needed efficiencies at his cramped, dilapidated building. He expects to announce the location of a new consulate soon.

At the consulate, he speaks frequently to people about their rights. He doesn't seek media attention, but he doesn't shy away from it either.

At 62, Hubbard is nearing retirement eligibility. But he says that his resolve and energy level have never been more heightened, particularly because of what he says is not only the continued racial profiling of Mexicans in Irving but the mounting pressure on Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal, in Farmers Branch.

Over lunch last week in Farmers Branch, we were joined briefly by Elizabeth Villafranca, herself a lightning rod in that city because of her opposition to an ordinance aimed at illegal immigrants. A federal court temporarily has blocked that ordinance.

Hubbard and Villafranca had never officially met, but she wanted him to know that she had called in to a local radio show to defend him. He was grateful, and they discussed a variety of topics, including the request to the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district by the city of Farmers Branch for the names and addresses of all its students.

They both are convinced that it is another attempt by city officials to target Farmers Branch residents who are in the country illegally; the city denies that.

Hubbard attends as many events as his time allows, speaking frequently to Mexican-based or U.S. Latino nonprofit organizations as well as to local business and nonprofit groups where nary a Hispanic is visible, other than the catering staff.

One recent event sticks out in Hubbard's mind.

"I was giving a talk at a business meeting ... and one man was very upset and said, 'We just want it to return to the way we were.'"

Hubbard, to the man's surprise, agreed with him -- sort of.

"I said, 'Sure, but maybe we should be talking about returning way, way back to how it was ... when this was part of Mexico.'"

dsedeno@star-telegram.com
David Sedeño is publisher of La Estrella and a member of the Star-Telegram <
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