The Hispanic population of Washington ? 82 percent with origins in Mexico ? has nearly doubled in the past decade to more than 750,000, and is spread across the state, growing in northwest Washington but also centered in places like Walla Walla and Columbia Counties in Southeast Washington.
As a result, the Mexican consul-general?s office in Seattle has resorted to a form of on-the-road diplomacy.
Two vans take off one weekend each month for a distant destination, say Kennewick or Walla Walla, carrying a six-member team headed by a foreign service officer.? They set up shop on Friday night, for six hours Saturday and again Sunday offer passport services, consular ID papers, powers of attorney, register children of Mexican parents, and extend notary services.
?We take the office with us,? jokes Eduardo Baca Cuenca, Mexico?s newly arrived consul-general in Seattle.? Hundreds of people use the consul-general?s services, making appointments in advance or just showing up.
A weekday visit to the usually crowded consul-general?s office in Belltown underscores that there is lots of demand for the services of a distant government.
A consul-general?s job is often to ?show the flag,? promote trade and raise a country?s profile.? Canada has employed such high-profile figures as ex-Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who did a stint in Low Angeles, and former member of parliament and junior cabinet minister Roger Simmons in Seattle.
But Baca Cuenca?s job is a little different.
?Our first job is attention to our local community, and we have a very big community,? he said.? ?No other consulate has the volume of work that we do.?
The Hispanic population of Washington was just over 200,000 in 1990.? It more than doubled to over 450,000 in 2000, and leaped to more than 750,000 in the 2010 census.? Hispanic residents, documented and undocumented, make up a majority of the populations in Franklin and Adams Counties, and between 25 and 50 percent through much of Central Washington.
The North American Free Trade Agreement has also boosted trade between Mexico and Washington State to more than $3 billion a year.? For instance, Mexico is buying lots of Washington apples, many picked by migrants from Mexico. But, as Baca Cuenca notes, not many people are aware of the two-way economic connection.
Given the attention he must pay to ?our local community? ? the Seattle consul-general?s responsibilities extend into northern Idaho ? Baca Cuenca is hoping to get a separate Mexican trade office established in Seattle.? ?You cannot attend to this part-time,? he said.
By 2025, Washington is expected to have nearly one million Hispanic residents.
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