Consulado Movil event provides Hispanics IDs

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Participants in the Consulado Movil wait in line in the middle school gym to have their photos made for a special identification document called a Matricula Consular. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

Warren County?s second Consulado Movil event was another big success, according to Patricia Torres and Rafaela Rodriguez, who were instrumental in organizing the first one last year, which drew 300 area Hispanics to the middle school gym to receive special photo ID called the Matricula Consular.

The program utilized the services of officials from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, who traveled to McMinnville to provide the documentation, which requires a photo and fingerprinting, all of which was provided on site.

Torres said this event went quite smoothly, in part because of what organizers learned from the first event.

?It went better than the last one,? Torres said. ?Much more organized than last time. We knew what to expect.?

But there were still a few problems, particularly with the number of people and the amount of time available.

?We had over 600 register,? Torres said, ?but not all of them were able to be seen because we ran out of time. People came at midnight, and they?re still here, some of them.?

Torres said, as before, the community has been very supportive.

?We had a group of 22 volunteers here this morning,? Torres said. ?A lot more support since more people know about it now.?

Torres initiated the event last year after seeing the availability of the Consulado Movil on the Internet. She e-mailed the Mexican Consulate which eventually agreed to come to Warren County and provide the documentation, which Torres says is a benefit to local Hispanics.

?It helps them to get an official government identification,? Torres said. ?It isn?t accepted everywhere here in the United States, but it?s better than them having nothing. And also, some of them got information about programs that can help them with different services.?

As with the program last year, Hispanics from around the area made their way to McMinnville to attend the event.

?We had a gentleman call from Kentucky last night,? Torres said. ?We had people from Shelbyville, Madison, Tullahoma, Manchester, Nashville, Columbia, Smithville, Sparta, from all the surrounding areas.?