Thread: New consul committed to binational solutions

New consul committed to binational solutions
Times staff report
Article Launched: 11/24/2007 03:26:28 PM MST


Roberto RodrÃ*guez Hernández, the new consul general at the Mexican Consulate in El Paso, said his office was committed to finding binational solutions to the wait-time problem at the international bridges.
"The most important theme is security. We agree with the United States on that point. Sept. 11 changed the strategies of both countries when it came to entry. But we need to look for more alternatives to expedite crossing," he said during a recent interview.

This year, habitual border crossers at busy ports on both borders have reported waiting in line for up to three hours in a car to go back into the United States.

"If you multiply it, it's three hours a day, 15 hours per five-day week, 60 hours a month," he said.

RodrÃ*guez, who said he doesn't have a Dedicated Commuter Lane pass because he wants to experience crossing the bridge like the majority of people, said Mexico City is aware of the problem.

RodrÃ*guez, 53, has been in his post for a month and replaces Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berúmen who left earlier this year.

For the past three years, he was consul general in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he spent most of his time promoting commerce, he said. In El Paso, he expects to spend most of his time attending to the needs of Mexican citizens, including finding the families of immigrants who died while trying to cross the border illegally.

So far this year, the consulate has recorded 20 such deaths, mostly drownings in the canal that runs along the river.

"It's a grave problem. Every life is important," RodrÃ*guez said.

The Mexican government, partly through RodrÃ*guez's office, works with the U.S. Border Patrol on an operation dubbed Lifeguard that is aimed at prosecuting immigrant smugglers.

"They took an active part in Lifeguard," Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said of the Mexican consulate. "They identified suspected smugglers for us and helped us put suspected smugglers into a database."

RodrÃ*guez said he also wants to rekindle several awareness campaigns targeting immigrants that had been phased out, such as a campaign against drug abuse and drug trafficking, against domestic violence and against drunk driving.

RodrÃ*guez said that he met with the Otero County Sheriff for breakfast in Alamogordo two weeks ago out of concern over a recent string of operations that blurred the line between crime fighting and immigration enforcement. RodrÃ*guez said he was told that sheriff's deputies were not doing Border Patrol work.

RodrÃ*guez said he will await the results of two lawsuits pending against Otero County over the issue.

"It's very important for the precedent that it will create. Officials will think twice next time," he said.

RodrÃ*guez was born in Cuernavaca in the Mexican state of Morelos and is a lawyer by training. He worked in various capacities in consulates and embassies in Del Rio and Laredo, Texas; Nogales, Ariz.; San Francisco; Havana and Budapest.

RodrÃ*guez also led the effort to make the Mexican matricula consular a secure document that can now be used in more than 400 banks as an official form of identification. That project helped more than 2 million undocumented immigrants open bank accounts in the United States.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_7550038

Originally Posted by jean

New consul committed to binational solutions
Times staff report
Article Launched: 11/24/2007 03:26:28 PM MST


Roberto RodrÃ*guez Hernández, the new consul general at the Mexican Consulate in El Paso, said his office was committed to finding binational solutions to the wait-time problem at the international bridges.
"The most important theme is security. We agree with the United States on that point. Sept. 11 changed the strategies of both countries when it came to entry. But we need to look for more alternatives to expedite crossing," he said during a recent interview.

This year, habitual border crossers at busy ports on both borders have reported waiting in line for up to three hours in a car to go back into the United States.

"If you multiply it, it's three hours a day, 15 hours per five-day week, 60 hours a month," he said.

RodrÃ*guez, who said he doesn't have a Dedicated Commuter Lane pass because he wants to experience crossing the bridge like the majority of people, said Mexico City is aware of the problem.

RodrÃ*guez, 53, has been in his post for a month and replaces Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berúmen who left earlier this year.

For the past three years, he was consul general in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he spent most of his time promoting commerce, he said. In El Paso, he expects to spend most of his time attending to the needs of Mexican citizens, including finding the families of immigrants who died while trying to cross the border illegally.

So far this year, the consulate has recorded 20 such deaths, mostly drownings in the canal that runs along the river.

"It's a grave problem. Every life is important," RodrÃ*guez said.

The Mexican government, partly through RodrÃ*guez's office, works with the U.S. Border Patrol on an operation dubbed Lifeguard that is aimed at prosecuting immigrant smugglers.

"They took an active part in Lifeguard," Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said of the Mexican consulate. "They identified suspected smugglers for us and helped us put suspected smugglers into a database."

RodrÃ*guez said he also wants to rekindle several awareness campaigns targeting immigrants that had been phased out, such as a campaign against drug abuse and drug trafficking, against domestic violence and against drunk driving.

RodrÃ*guez said that he met with the Otero County Sheriff for breakfast in Alamogordo two weeks ago out of concern over a recent string of operations that blurred the line between crime fighting and immigration enforcement. RodrÃ*guez said he was told that sheriff's deputies were not doing Border Patrol work.

RodrÃ*guez said he will await the results of two lawsuits pending against Otero County over the issue.

"It's very important for the precedent that it will create. Officials will think twice next time," he said.

RodrÃ*guez was born in Cuernavaca in the Mexican state of Morelos and is a lawyer by training. He worked in various capacities in consulates and embassies in Del Rio and Laredo, Texas; Nogales, Ariz.; San Francisco; Havana and Budapest.

RodrÃ*guez also led the effort to make the Mexican matricula consular a secure document that can now be used in more than 400 banks as an official form of identification. That project helped more than 2 million undocumented immigrants open bank accounts in the United States.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_7550038

Binational is not in America's vocabulary. Can't we kick these consulate people out of OUR country?

We didn't change after 911 fool, we just found out what has been happening for a long time, after 911. Rewrite another speech. I bet the Mexicans clapped after that speech, I'm not......