On the corner of Monroe Street and Maxwell Avenue, two pink tents and plenty of volunteers fill the sidewalk. The banners of tiny Mexican flags are a good clue — this is where you can check in for your appointment with the Mexican consulate.
The consulate is usually in Seattle, but this week, Latinos en Spokane is hosting the agency just north of downtown. Anyone in Eastern Washington can make an appointment much closer to home instead of planning — and paying for — a days-long trip to the western side of the state.
Jennyfer Mesa, Latinos en Spokane’s executive director, said that hundreds of people are coming to get documents that are increasingly important under President Donald Trump’s heightened deportation efforts – passports, voter registrations, and matrículas, which help people get IDs in the U.S.
But it’s also a moment for the nonprofit to touch base with the community and help families get ready for the worst.
“For us, this is also a larger effort of family preparedness,” Mesa said. “What happens if me or somebody else in my family gets detained by ICE and what happens to our kids? If those kids have a U.S. passport or a Mexican passport, that can help us create family planning and reunification.”
There are three waiting rooms with fans, pens, paper and plenty of people waiting. In the last room, five staff members from the Mexican consulate are taking photos, checking paperwork, and printing documents.
One man was able to get ID services half an hour from home, instead of planning a trip to Seattle. SPR isn’t sharing names of people seeking services out of concern for their safety.
“He’s very grateful that these services exist here and that we’re promoting them so that he can have access that is closer,” Mesa translated for him, “because these services are very important to them.”
One Spokanite who has lived in the US for more than thirty years just got her Mexican passport.
“I have been going to Mexico almost every year. But last year, when we got the flight to Mexico, we had to pay $45 because we presented an American passport, because they say we are tourists and we have to pay for being in Mexico,” she said.
She’s excited that a new passport will make traveling much more affordable.
There’s one more group of people hanging out on the sidewalk. They’re wearing yellow safety vests and standing at the corners of the building and the intersection.
Sandra Lambdin has been outside the pop-up consulate this morning for two hours and plans to stay until the middle of the afternoon. She’s a volunteer who’s trying to shield people using the consular services from any middle fingers or other aggressive actions from people driving by.
“[I’m] trying to make people who are immigrants and hard workers who came to this country feel comfortable here and help kinda protect them from people who don’t want them to have that way of life, that freedom that they’re entitled here,” she said.
Plus, Lambdin is keeping an eye out for ICE officers who have been spotted at this intersection throughout the week.
“If they were to try to detain someone, I’d ask to see their warrant and what grounds there are and try to be as brave as I possibly could,” she said. “You always question yourself in those situations, but I would like to think that I’d stand up for these people because they’re being treated so unfairly.”
The consulate will be in Spokane until the end of the day Friday. Officials are accepting walk-ins as they can, but Mesa says it’s best to make an appointment through the consulate’s website if possible.
The consulate travels periodically and announces their destinations on their website and social media.
