Salvadoran Consul Visits Northwest Arkansas

By Pablo Bello
THE MORNING NEWS
SPRINGDALE -- The Salvadoran Consul came to Northwest Arkansas on Friday and Saturday to provide services to Salvadorans living in the area.

Salvadoran Consul Mario Roger Hernandez said he came to provide passports, visas, birth certificates and authorize other documents.

WILLIAM MOORE * THE MORNING NEWS [from left] Christian Contreras, Eliecer Contreras, Tony Rivas and Mellisa Rivas play in the bed of a pickup truck while waiting with their families outside Centro Cristiano Hispano on North 56th Street to have their passports and other identification looked over by the Salvadorian Consulate Saturday, July 21, 2007 in Springdale. Christian and Eliecer are brothers and live in Siloam Springs. Tony and Mellisa are siblings, and split time between Siloam Springs and Springdale, but said they spend more time in Springdale.

"There are around 5,000 Salvadorans in Northwest Arkansas," said Hernandez, whose office is in Dallas.
WILLIAM MOORE * THE MORNING NEWS Salvadorians line up outside Centro Cristiano Hispano on North 56th Street to have their passports and other identification looked over by the Salvadorian Consulate Saturday, July 21, 2007 in Springdale.

The jurisdiction of the consulate is north of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Maria Magdalena Funes de Carcamo, said she came to get a passport to travel to El Salvador.

"If there is any emergency I would like to have it ready to travel," she said.

Hernandez said he is aware of the anti-immigrant environment in Northwest Arkansas, but he said that it is a risk that people without legal documents take.

"Undocumented Salvadorans can be arrested any moment if that law passes (287(g)) but we would like to be sure that they are treated fair and everyone goes through a transparent process without discrimination," said Hernandez.

"We would like to question police if they used racial profiling to stop Salvadorans in the street if that law is approved," said Hernandez.

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack requested in November that Rogers police officers be certified and trained through a program providing local law enforcement authority similar to that of federal immigration officers. The officer's level of authority would depend on details found in a memorandum of understanding, which the city hopes to enter into with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Other cities such as Springdale have requested the same program, but they are still waiting for a answer from the federal government.

Womack said the plan isn't for the city to have officers patrolling for illegal immigrants, but to have officers with authority to act on immigration issues if illegal immigrants are detained by the department.

The Salvadoran Consul said that it was unfortunate that the immigration reform was not approved in Congress, but Congress sooner or later will have to deal with it.

Many Salvadorans have Temporary Protected Status, which was given to Salvadorans by the U.S. government on March 9, 2001, after devastating earthquakes in El Salvador. Hernandez said that the status is expiring on Sept. 9, and the consulate has not received a date for the extension of the program from the Department of Homeland Security.

"We would like to extend an invitation to all Salvadorans to be alert to know when to renew their (status)," said Hernandez.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/ ... lvador.txt