'A fascinating story': 100 years of Salt Lake City's Mexican Consulate

SALT LAKE CITY — The Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City has represented Mexican nationals and the broader Hispanic community in Utah for over a century.

Its presence in the Beehive State is a testament to the unique relationship between Utah and Mexico — one that has endured the Mexican Revolution, economic growth and periods of heightened nationalism on both sides of the border.

"It's very complex, it's a fascinating story," said University of Utah professor Armando Solorzano, who was part of a binational effort to study the consulate's history. "For me, writing history is about bringing to people's attention the participation of all kinds of people in the construction of the state of Utah so that we can interact on a more equal basis."

Consul Eduardo Baca Cuenca, who took up his post in Salt Lake earlier this year, said Utahns and Mexicans have "very deep and very long ties."

"It's very interesting because you know this is one of the places that — because it's farther north, it's not on the border — where you wouldn't normally think one of the oldest offices would be," he said. "So it does sort of give the consulate here a special sort of sense to it."

'Untold history'

Utah and Mexico's unique relationship stretches back to 1847, when Brigham Young and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled in Mexican territory without permission, breaking Mexican law in the process. When the U.S. government outlawed polygamy in the 1880s, members of the church again trespassed into Mexico, establishing colonies in the state of Chihuahua. A lack of archival records, however, means the details of those border crossings are lost to history.

"Where is the Mexican government in all this?" Solorzano said. "It's a fascinating story and I would like to find the documentation, the agreements and the dialogues between the (Latter-day Saint) church, the Mexican government and the Mexican consoles. But this is kind of the untold history, the one that you don't want to know because it clarifies the situation and corrects the stereotypes about Mexicans crossing the border undocumented or illegally."

By 1910, then-Utah Gov. William Spry felt that a Mexican consulate in Utah was of the utmost necessity, going so far as to petition the U.S. State Department for one.

"In recent years citizens of the state of Utah have invested extensively in Mexican lands and enterprises. As a result, there is a very considerable volume of business transacted, involving titles to land, transfers, contracts, etc., and the residents of this state are embarrassed through their inability to transact business expeditiously, to say nothing of the expense they are put to in handling their affairs from Utah," Spry wrote in a June 1910 letter to the secretary of state. "The Mexican consul at Phoenix, Arizona, having jurisdiction over Utah, is so far removed from the people of this state as to render his services practically unavailable. I have the honor, therefore, to make supplication for the designation of a representative of the Republic of Mexico, to be located at Salt Lake City, Utah."

The request came at a unique point in time. The Mexican Revolution was in full swing and anti-American sentiments were high in Mexico.

"Mexicans were very hurt by the fact that the U.S. took over 50% of their territory. They didn't want to deal with this country anymore. I don't think those were the words they used, but it was not good sentiments on both sides," Solorzano said. "The Mexicans don't want to know about the Americans; and the Americans don't want to know about the Mexicans."

The Mexican Revolution delayed the fulfillment of Spry's request for a consul, but the Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City opened in 1911. One of the first consuls was a Japanese businessman and labor contractor by the name of Edward Daigoro Hashimoto, who seems to have been approved because of his business connections. A few years later, during a brief period when the consulate was closed, Mexicans in Utah would petition for a new representative — specifically someone from Mexico — to reopen the consulate.

Hashimoto's goal, along with the state's, was to introduce a cheap labor supply into Utah's economy. And Mexico — with a few stipulations on how its workers could be treated — was ready to fill that need. In fact, about 10% of Mexico's population, about 1 million people, fled north during the revolution, mostly stopping in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Those migration patterns meant Utah had to make a concerted effort to attract Mexican laborers.

The 1910s saw notable migration from Mexico to Utah, with the state's Hispanic population making significant contributions to the sheep, cattle, mining and railroad industries, according to University of Utah research on census data and minority groups in Utah.

Solorzaono said the population changes came with some tension since early Latter-day Saint leaders never intended on including Mexicans, who were largely Catholic, in the state. That meant Mexican labors were primarily sought out by mining, railroad and agriculture companies.

Despite rocky beginnings, the Salt Lake Consulate now has a strong working relationship with the church, both as it pertains to issuing visas for missionaries and dealing with organizations the church funds in Utah and Mexico.

"That's a very special link that we have that doesn't repeat itself in any other of our consulates." Baca, the current head consul, said. "There's a lot of points where we do feel that they support indirectly a lot of activities or allies that we have that are very important to the work that we do."

Beyond assigned duties

While the consulate covers typical services, such as passports and the repatriation of human remains, it has also stepped up to fill gaps in resources and representation for Mexicans and the broader Latino population throughout its history.

"It goes beyond diplomacy, beyond what they are called to do. But again, if they don't do it, nobody else is going to do it," Solorzano said. "If you look at and read the history from the official point of view, they are very careful in telling you, 'Well, maybe we did that, but we know that we were sort of crossing the lines because the Mexican Consulate cannot interfere in the internals of another country out of respect to their sovereignty. But that's what I admire about the Mexican consuls in Utah — they go beyond the official code and look at that Mexican people not just as immigrants or Mexican nationals but as humans who have the right to be educated, to a decent living, to health care and insurance, to proper burials."

Mexican consuls, due to a mix of personality differences and the specific challenges of different time periods, have functioned in a variety of roles and taken up a number of different issues. In the 1910s, for example, the consul and his wife personally visited Mexican workers. The two eventually organized a number of social programs — ranging from financial and medical assistance to schools for children — for Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in the state after seeing a lack of protections for Mexican miners, railroad constructors and agriculture workers as well as discrimination against Mexican students.

"That was eye-opening. These were very committed people who went beyond the official task of diplomacy and got involved in the life of the community to protect not only the rights of the Mexican people abroad but also their physical and cultural needs," Solorzano said. "There are times when the Mexican and Latino population in Utah did not have political representation and were without organizations that represent their interests. ... In those times, the Mexican Consulate is the most visible organization representing Mexicans."

That commitment has stretched into the 21st century, as well. In the mid-2000s, Solorzano said the Mexican Consulate stepped up during controversy about bilingual programs during a time when Utah school districts saw an increased number of Spanish-speaking students. The consulate worked to bring textbooks in Spanish from Mexico to Utah. The consulate has also successfully increased statewide awareness of Día de los Muertos, with the governor signing annual declarations recognizing the holiday.

"They walk a very fine line in the state of Utah because people ask them to get involved in political issues and cultural issues, like women's issues or immigration issues, that affect not only Mexican nationals but Mexican Americans, Latinos and Hispanics," he said. "Some consuls take risks based not in diplomacy but based on the strong commitment to human rights. For some of them, and I say it openly, in my understanding it has cost them their job because they get involved."

More recently, Baca said Mexican consulates have expanded to be more than just an office for passports and other types of documentation.

"They've also become very important in growing trade promotion, political relations, anything that can contribute to the relationship, in this case, between the state of Utah and Mexico," Baca said. "I plan to continue to focus on the traditional work of the consulate but also continue the work in terms of trade and strengthening the ties between Utah and Mexico."

'A little piece of Mexico'

The Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City has filled a wide variety of roles over the years and continues to be there for those with ties to Mexico. Baca said the consulate has continued to serve Utah's long-established and growing Mexican population with issues ranging from voting in Mexican elections or accessing their retirement plans in Mexico to working with local organizations like Artes de Mexico to promote Mexican culture.

"It's important to have a consulate here," he said. "The first reason for establishing a consulate is of course the size of our community. In the case of Utah, it's a community where the origins have been here for many decades. It's a community that's well established and that has grown, certainly."

Maria Jimenez, a Salt Lake City mom, has been to the consulate a few times since moving from Mexico to Utah 18 years ago.

"I like the consulate here because it's a little piece of Mexico. I feel like I'm visiting Mexico," she said, in Spanish, while waiting to renew her passport. "It's super great and easy to be able to come here for whatever document."

Those interested in learning more can visit the consulate, 660 S. 200 East, Suite 300, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday until June to view an exhibit about the consulate's history.

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