Around 400 employees working across Mexico's 53 consulates in the United States are at risk of losing their jobs and, eventually, their legal status as A-2 diplomatic visas expire under a U.S. policy that limits how long locally contracted consular staff can remain in the country, according to El País.
Many of the affected workers have spent years or decades in the U.S., handling passports, consular identification cards, birth certificates and voter credentials for Mexican nationals. Their departures could strain a consular network serving more than 38 million Mexicans living in the country.
One employee, identified only as Rosa Elvira, has worked at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles for four decades and is expected to lose her job Aug. 21. Her immigration status is set to expire next summer. "I would be left in a vulnerable situation, undocumented and without a job," she told El País.
The issue dates to 2016, when the Obama administration changed the terms of A-2 visas held by roughly 1,700 Mexican consular contractors, limiting them to five years and eliminating indefinite renewals. Mexico has since negotiated temporary extensions, but the number of workers covered by the arrangement has fallen to about 400.
Mexico's Foreign Ministry says it is still seeking diplomatic and administrative solutions. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said in July that the government had managed to extend the visas for more than eight years and would continue exploring options, including possible employment alternatives in Mexico for workers forced to return.
Some, however, have built families and lives in the United States and do not want to leave. A Mexican foreign service official told El País that some former consular employees have remained in the country without legal status after their visas expired.
The State Department told the newspaper that A-2 visas are intended for temporary official duties and "are not intended to facilitate their holders 'putting down roots' in the United States."
The dispute is unfolding as Washington reviews all 53 Mexican consulates, a process first reported by CBS News in May that could potentially lead to some closures. The State Department said the review is intended to ensure diplomatic relations align with the Trump administration's foreign policy priorities.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said there is no reason to close the offices, arguing that the consulates respect U.S. politics.
