Mexican Consulate prepares for questions following Obama’s immigration announcement

The Mexican government, through its consulate in Anchorage, has issued a statement regarding President Barack Obama’s announcement regarding deferred action on illegal immigrants. Señor Javier Abud is Anchorage’s Mexican consul. He says the Mexican government welcomes the announcement.

“Some studies show more than 50 percent of undocumented people in the U.S. are of Mexican origin and we are talking about more than 11 million in total,” Abud said.

President Obama announced Thursday his executive action to grant temporary, three-year legal status to up to five million undocumented immigrants who have family in the United States. The president says that the plan does not grant them citizenship. The president’s action allows federal immigration authorities to target criminals and those undocumented immigrants recently arrived in the U.S. for deportation.

Abud says the Mexican consulate is preparing to help undocumented immigrants in Alaska who may benefit from Obama’s announcement.

“I can tell you, when the process formally starts the consulate will be ready with some contingency measures.”

Abud says those affected must inform themselves about the plan through official sources only, such as the Mexican consulate, to avoid misinformation or being taken advantage of by scammers who may mislead them.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications