A new Mexican consulate is coming to Milwaukee, although when it will open still remains unclear.
Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America Carlos Perez-Verdia met with Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI) and other officials in Milwaukee Thursday to talk out the plans and the future of the site. Duffy says the move will have some pretty significant fiscal advantages for the state. “It helps facilitate trade between Wisconsin and Mexico, and Mexico is the second largest country that we export to in Wisconsin, almost $3 billion a year.”
He says Wisconsin exports to Mexico increased 12 percent between 2013 and 2014, and that the consulate is an excellent way to continue to bolster that relationship.
Duffy has been working on the program for a while and says he helped bring the consulate here over places like Tennessee and Hawaii. Just more effective and easier for folks to have a consulate here in Wisconsin as it is in Chicago and Illinois. The lines are less, the drive is less, I think it’s a far better solution.”
He says the location will make it easier for legal immigrants to get access to services.
Just when the consulate will be opening is still up in the air. He says “the consulate and the government haven’t really given firm dates yet so we’ll have to wait and see. But I feel pretty comfortable that it will be open and running by the end of this year.”
Duffy says he’s grateful to the undersecretary and Mexican officials for visiting the state and he’s looking forward to working with them in the future.
While in Milwaukee, Duffy also presented Perez-Verdia with a formal extradition request for notorious drug cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Guzman was recently recaptured after escaping from prison and American officials are seeking to put him on trial in an American court.
Contributed by Raymond Neupert, WSAU