Mexico launches $50M campaign in legal aid for undocumented immigrants
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FOX NEWS - All 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S. on Friday launched legal assistance centers to form partnerships with nonprofit groups and tap lawyers to help undocumented immigrants fearing President Donald Trump's immigration policies, according to The Associated Press.
The effort, totaling $50 million, comes as the two countries battle over who will be paying for Trump's proposed border wall. He has said Mexico will pay for it, while Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has refused.
The centers also have opened less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released new guidelines to detain and deport undocumented immigrants as well as increasing the number of federal agents at the border.
Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia, Miami's Mexican consul general, said these new centers would become "authentic advocates of the rights of Mexican migrants."
"What changes today is that we are prioritizing legal matters over everything," he said. "Previously, we didn't have the need to seek so much legal support for our people. But now, we need to protect them against an eventual deportation."