Thread: LV: Bursting at seams, consulate seeks a bigger, friendlier

Bursting at seams, consulate seeks a bigger, friendlier home
Mexican official complains of prejudice by building’s owner

Mexican official complains of prejudice by building’s owner

By Tim Pratt
Sun, Jan 13, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Mariano Lemus Gas, Mexico’s consul in Las Vegas, made a plea to the valley’s Hispanic community in a recent edition of El Mundo, a local Spanish-language weekly.

Six years after becoming the valley’s first consulate, his downtown office needs a new home. He hopes the community can help.

The decision is mostly a result of the continuous growth in the area’s Mexican community. Demand at the office has gone from about 100 documents daily to nearly 180 during the past three years alone, while the consulate’s staff has gone from 10 to 16 since opening day, said Johannes Jacome, alternate consul.

Since 2002, the valley’s Mexican population has increased from an estimated 274,000 to at least 360,000.

But the agency has faced more than a growth in demand. It has seen its own version of the xenophobia many Hispanics have withstood as immigration polarized public opinion in recent years, according to Lemus Gas.

Other tenants in the Bank of America building where the consulate occupies a ground-floor office, the consul said, have complained to the building’s owner about “those Mexicans.â€

The consul is looking to relocate the crowded office and is seeking help from the community in choosing a new site.

Here's a novel Idea... how bout Down Town Mexico City in the Beautiful country of Mexico as the new site location