UNDERSECRETARY ALCOCER CHAIRS A MEETING WITH THE MEXICAN CONSULS IN TEXAS

Undersecretary for North America Sergio M. Alcocer Martinez de Castro chaired a meeting to coordinate with Mexico’s consuls in Texas. In 2012, the eleven consulates there handled more than 80,000 cases of assistance and protection and issued over 150,000 passports and 356,000 high-security consular identification cards.

Guidelines were adopted for the consulates’ coordinated efforts; the issues most important to the Mexican communities were discussed; and the consular assistance and protection programs and the process of modernizing the consulates’ services and customer service were assessed.

Given the possibility of a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy in the United States, the importance of keeping the population informed to prevent any abuse or fraud was stressed. In addition, the steps to take to ensure high-quality consular services in the short- and medium-term were mentioned.

Texas has the second-largest number of Mexicans and individuals of Mexican descent (8.4 million) in the United States. Mexico is Texas’ most important trading partner. In 2012, exports from Texas to Mexico totaled more than 94.7 billion dollars (35.7% of the total). Mexico was Texas’ biggest supplier, with sales of nearly 100 billion dollars (30.2% of total). More than 200 Texas companies operate in Mexico and there are more than 50 Mexican companies in Texas.