On March 28, the nonprofit Little Known Help Zone hosted Deputy Consul Rocío Vázquez Álvarez from the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia for a conversation on immigrant rights.
A Consulate is a government office whose main mission is to protect one’s rights and interests. Their vast variety of services consist of everything from supplying documentation, such as passports and license plates, to partnering with different organizations to provide vaccinations, education programs, and legal advice.
The Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia encompasses the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania and the eight counties of southern New Jersey. The Mexican population in this constituency is estimated to be 250,000 people. On any given day, they see around 300 people.
The lecture highlighted the importance of Vazquez’s work, especially with the current political climate.
She focused particularly on explaining why Mexico’s relationship with the U.S. is such a priority.
“There are 175 Mexican embassies, and 50 of them are in the U.S.,” said Vazquez. “Our alliance is especially important because of our economic relationship, our many cultural ties, and of course, the large population of Mexicans that are here.”
There are over 36 million people of Mexican origin currently residing in the United States,12 million of which are first-generation Mexicans. This accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S.’s total population.
“With such a large number of Mexicans here, it is important to protect their rights and wellbeing, especially considering that 45 percent of these people are undocumented,” says Vazquez.
Vazquez explained the difficulties of navigating the legal system for immigrants--where children go if their parents are deported and the increase in law strictness about what is considered a deportable offense.
“I have been working so many years, and I have seen so many difficult cases,” she said. “The law expects immigrants to be completely infallible; something as small as two shoplifting incidents over the course of five years can get an immigrant deported.”
Her foremost advice to Mexicans is to become U.S. citizens, as she believes this is the ultimate form of protection. If others want to help, she encourages them to work with the many established immigrant rights organizations.
Vazquez was invited to Bryn Mawr by Makenna Lenover ’19, who founded Little Known Help Zone after a middle school trip to Roátan, Honduras. Makenna works with nonprofits in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to fight for human rights for underrepresented groups in Central America. Some of her work includes providing children school supplies and beds and sponsoring students’ educations as well as paying for their graduation costs.
Makenna was thrilled when Vazquez accepted her invitation to host a lecture. “With the current political climate, it is important to have discussions centered around hot topics that are from people who are directly involved with or impacted by policy decisions,” she says.
She hopes the lecture has helped students learn about the resource of the Consulate of Mexico as well as inspired people to help wherever they can.
Little Known Help Zone is planning a candy gram sale in April to fundraise for training programs at ORMUSA in El Salvador and the Chirepeco Tea Cooperative in Guatemala to teach their laborers their rights, assist them with unionizations and maternity leave, and to provide them with leadership skills to encourage entrepreneurship. The candy grams will include free trade chocolate bars that support fair labor practices as well as chimpanzee conservation.
For more information about the Bryn Mawr chapter of Little Known Help Zone, read here.