Residents of Peoria with ties to Mexico lined up outside First United Methodist Church Wed. to meet with the Mexican Consulate.
The Consulate’s mobile unit makes routine visits throughout the Midwest for those who can’t make it to the office in Chicago. The Peoria stop comes just a day after President Donald Trump's administration announced it's enforcing a tougher crackdown on immigrants living in the US illegally. But even those with proper documentation are feeling on edge.
Like Ricardo Belo, a software engineer at Caterpillar.
“In my case, I am a legal person working here with a permit, and everything is in good standing," Belo said. "But yeah, you cannot deny that the world we are living in makes us nervous.”
Ricardo Belo says Cat hired him last June. Belo says he’s meeting with the Consulate to start the process to renew his Professional TN visa, which expires next year. Belo says the company is supportive and will allow him to work remotely from Mexico, if he’s not allowed to reenter the country.
First United Methodist Church started hosting the consulate’s mobile unit five years ago to meet the needs of its growing Hispanic ministry. But this year in particular, Pastor Adrian Garcia says he's heard increasing concerns from families that make up his church community.
“And even for the green card residents, it’s kind of, what is going to happen." Garcia said. "They feel that if they get a traffic ticket, they’re going to go to jail.”
Pastor Garcia says the majority of his congregation is from Mexico. But he adds, his Spanish-language services offer headsets for English-speakers to follow along and get to know the community.