🇲🇽 Mexican Consul Reveals 500% Surge in Dual Citizenship Applications Amid Border Tensions | Buckmaster Show Exclusive
Border expert Keith Rosenblum describes "witch hunt" atmosphere affecting legal residents and citizens.
Based on the Buckmaster Show for 4/7/25, a daily radio show in Tucson, AZ, interviewing local newsmakers
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
The Buckmaster Show interviewed important people who work at the border between the 🇺🇸 United States and 🇲🇽 Mexico. They explained that many families who have members in both countries are worried about new rules making it harder to visit each other.
The Mexican Consul (an official representative) said many more people are asking for Mexican citizenship documents 📄 because they're nervous about staying in the US, even though fewer people are actually crossing the border illegally 🚫 than before.
A border expert calling from Tijuana Airport ✈️ said both countries are now making it harder to cross by requiring passports and more documents 📑. These changes are hurting businesses 💼 because fewer people from Mexico are coming to shop in Arizona 🛒. The important thing to remember is that people in this region have been connected for hundreds of years ⏳, long before the current border was created.
🗝️ Takeaways
🗣️ Mexican Consul Rafael Barcelo de Raso reports a 500% increase in dual citizenship applications as mixed-status families and Mexican-Americans seek security amid uncertain immigration policies
📉 Despite political rhetoric, migration numbers along the Arizona border are at "record lows" according to official US Border Patrol figures shared with the Mexican consulate
🛍️ Fear and uncertainty are causing Mexican tourists to avoid shopping trips to Arizona, threatening significant economic impacts for border region businesses
🔄 Mexico has begun requiring passports for entry at some border crossings (like Tijuana) as a reciprocal measure to US policy changes, though US citizens still don't need visas
📝 Mexican citizens living legally in the US are advised to carry proper documentation at all times due to increased immigration enforcement operations
🤝 Despite current tensions, borderland communities have deep historical connections that predate current national boundaries: "We are the borderlands. We have always been and we will always be."
Border Politics & Diplomacy: Mexican Consul Speaks on Changing US-Mexico Relations
In the ever-shifting landscape of US-Mexico relations, Monday's Buckmaster Show delivered critical insights into the realities of our borderlands during these uncertain times. The tides of xenophobia may ebb and flow with each administration, but for the communities straddling the artificial line we call a border, the consequences are anything but theoretical. They are lived experiences etched into daily routines, family dynamics, and economic realities.
The show featured Rafael Barcelo de Raso, Consul of Mexico in Tucson, along with seasoned border observer Keith Rosenblum calling in from Tijuana Airport. Together, they painted a vivid portrait of how recent policy shifts are affecting cross-border communities that have existed since long before either nation claimed this contested terrain.
Consul Rafael Barcelo de Raso: Diplomat in the Crosshairs of History
Stepping into the Green Things Zocalo Village Studios, Consul Barcelo de Raso carried with him not just his diplomatic credentials but the weight of representing a nation increasingly villainized in American political discourse. Since August 2020, he has represented Mexico in Tucson—one of five Mexican consulates in Arizona, reflecting the deep interconnectedness of the region despite politicians' attempts to sever these historic ties.
With a distinguished diplomatic background including positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handling human rights policy, migration and refugee cases, Barcelo de Raso speaks with the measured calm of a seasoned diplomat. Yet beneath his composed exterior, the urgency of the moment was palpable.
"These are uncertain times for our relationship," he acknowledged, "with many news about immigration in the media, but also a lot of misinformation on social media." This toxic brew of fearmongering and misinformation has created a climate where even legal visitors with tourist visas feel "afraid to plan their trips" to Arizona.
How convenient that the same political forces generating the hysteria about immigration "crises" never mention that their policies are actually creating economic damage to American communities that depend on cross-border commerce. Funny how that detail gets lost in the "America First" rhetoric.
The Consul didn't mince words about the climate of fear gripping mixed-status families. He confirmed a dramatic 500% increase in requests for dual citizenship at some consulates—a telling barometer of anxiety within the Mexican-American community. This surge stems not just from recent immigrants but from families whose roots in this region predate the current border itself.
"We see that in the mixed status families," the Consul explained, "and even in US citizens that have Mexican origin."
The historical irony couldn't be more stark: descendants of people who never crossed a border but rather had a border cross them are now seeking documentation from their ancestral homeland as insurance against persecution in the land where they were born.
"As you mentioned," he told Buckmaster, "the family bonds with Mexico have been constant in this region. There has not been an interruption in any time in history since this was first in New Spain, and then Mexico, and then the United States."
His most powerful statement cut through the political noise with historical clarity: "I will always say that reality is more stubborn than any politician. And the reality of our region is that we are the borderlands. We have always been and we will always be."
Imagine needing to carry the passport of your ancestors' homeland because the country of your birth—built on stolen indigenous land—now treats you as perpetually suspect based on your surname or skin tone. This is the "freedom" the right wing is so desperate to protect?
Perhaps most telling was his reminder that, contrary to current political posturing, migration numbers along the Arizona border are at record lows according to official US Border Patrol figures. "The numbers are on a record low," he stated definitively. "It has been quite low since June 2024, but it's particularly low now that there's this whole and massive attention to the topic."
This reality-check stands in stark contrast to the fear-mongering narratives dominating political discourse—a disconnect that serves only those who profit politically from manufactured crises rather than addressing real human needs.
For Mexican citizens living and working legally in the US, the Consul offered practical advice born of necessity: carry your documentation at all times, despite the risk of losing these precious papers.
"It is important, particularly for those who have a visa, work visa, to bring their documentation with them," he advised, adding that people should keep the consulate's contact information readily available "in case anything happens like a detention."
What a damning indictment of our current moment—that the official representative of Mexico must advise his citizens to prepare for potential detention even when they have every legal right to be here.
Keith Rosenblum: Witness to the Hardening Border
Keith Rosenblum's voice crackled through the phone line from Tijuana Airport, bringing a frontline report from a man who has spent decades observing the US-Mexico border. His revelation that Mexico now requires passports for entry in Tijuana (though not yet in Nogales) highlighted the reciprocal nature of border policies—when one side tightens restrictions, the other often follows suit.
"The Mexicans now are essentially reciprocating," Rosenblum observed without hesitation, describing what he sees as "hostile treatment" reflecting a broader shift in US-Mexico relations. "We're in a period where I'm telling people who are permanent residents, don't go back to Mexico unless you have to, because we're being... we have a hostile, almost a presumption of guilt or presumption of insurgency or malice when it comes to people now who are in the US."
His personal anecdote about ASU students having their visas revoked without explanation illuminated the arbitrary power wielded by immigration authorities. "Because we don't have to give, you're here at the pleasure or leisure of state, the Department of State, who gives visas, and they were evicted."
Interesting how quickly "due process" vanishes when it comes to non-citizens. The same people who scream about government overreach suddenly have no problem with unchecked state power when it's directed at people with accents or brown skin.
Rosenblum's voice carried the weariness of someone who has seen this cycle before but is nonetheless disturbed by its current intensity. "I think there's a witch hunt going on right now both that we know about and also that we don't know about," he said, acknowledging his own inability to explain the current political climate to confused Mexicans. "I used to be able to explain US politics or a little bit of it anyway to people when I traveled, and I'm puzzled today. I can't explain how we've made a turn to being such a hostile nation."
As someone married to a Mexican citizen with dual-citizenship children, Rosenblum spoke from direct experience about the disparate treatment at border checkpoints. "There's a big difference in the treatment there," he noted, pointing to the racial dimension of border enforcement he's witnessed firsthand during his 40 years in Tucson.
"If you give somebody a badge and then you give somebody a gun... you're giving people the prerogative to intimidate and harassing is not far off," he observed with the clarity of someone who has seen how power operates in border spaces.
His comparison to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict captured the danger of continuing down this path: "God, there's no winners there at all. This is just a losing proposition... We so want to avoid that in our relationship with Mexico."
The economic impact of these changes could be substantial. As Mexican shoppers—once a reliable presence in Tucson and Phoenix malls—increasingly stay home, local businesses will feel the pinch. One negative experience at the border can ripple through networks via text messages and social media, deterring countless others from making the trip.
Rosenblum highlighted the obsolescence of physical passports in an era of biometric identification: "Passports are obsolete. The iris and the facial software, the facial recognition software have made irrelevant the passport. They already know who you are." Yet bureaucratic hurdles multiply, making cross-border movement increasingly difficult despite technological advances that could streamline the process.
The cruelty is the point. These policies aren't about security—they're about performing "toughness" on immigration for political gain, regardless of the economic and human costs.
Ben Bueller Garcia: Witnessing the Damage to Cross-Border Community
Toward the show's conclusion, Ben Bueller Garcia joined the conversation, bringing his unique perspective as both a Mexican citizen for 18 years and a Tucson community leader. Having worked with Congressman Jim Kolbe during the NAFTA negotiations, he expressed deep concern about both the economic and psychological damage of deteriorating US-Mexico relations.
"Beyond the economic damage... the insult to the pride," he noted, highlighting how the diplomatic tensions affect personal relationships that have flourished across the border for generations. "We had had such a great relationship with that country forever."
His observation about the empty parking lots at Ross stores during Semana Santa provided a tangible image of the economic impact already taking shape. Where once shoppers from Sonora would fill these lots during holiday seasons, uncertainty about border crossings has created noticeable absences.
"You can flip a tariff switch on and off," Bueller Garcia observed, "but the psychological damage of hurting those friendships, I think is going to last for a while."
The invisible costs of xenophobic policies never make it into the economic analyses trumpeted by right-wing think tanks. The broken trust, the severed business relationships, the cultural exchanges that wither—these don't show up in GDP figures but represent profound losses nonetheless.
The Historical Context We Cannot Escape
What remains fundamental to this conversation is the colonial reality that underpins these tensions. The land where these discussions are taking place—Tucson, Arizona—was once part of Mexico and before that, indigenous territory. The border itself is a relatively recent political construction superimposed on ancient human connections.
As Consul Barcelo de Raso aptly put it: "We are the borderlands. We have always been and we will always be." This truth transcends the temporary political winds that currently threaten these deep-rooted connections.
The history of this region doesn't begin with American sovereignty. It doesn't begin with Mexican independence. It doesn't even begin with Spanish colonization. The human geography of the Sonoran Desert region has been shaped by thousands of years of indigenous movement, trade, and cultural exchange that makes modern border politics seem like a brief and likely temporary interruption.
History doesn't care about your border wall. Communities that have been intertwined for centuries won't suddenly stop being connected because politicians fabricate crises for campaign soundbites.
The Path Forward: Solidarity Across Borders
Though the current political climate brings challenges, the resilience of borderland communities offers hope. As Keith Rosenblum urged in his parting words: "Hold firm. We're in a time where there's a harassment of authority toward citizenry on both sides... When people acquiesce or they capitulate, even if they're innocent, they still harm the remainder of us."
This call for solidarity reminds us that the struggle against unjust border policies isn't just about individual rights—it's about preserving the interconnected cultural fabric that makes the borderlands such a vibrant, unique region.
Despite the political headwinds, the human connections between our communities will endure, as they have through centuries of political shifts and boundary changes. The border is ultimately a political fiction—one that has very real consequences, but a fiction nonetheless when compared to the lived reality of humans who have moved through this landscape since time immemorial.
Getting Involved
If you're concerned about the future of US-Mexico relations and the treatment of immigrants and border communities, there are several ways to get involved:
Support immigrant rights organizations like the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Border Action Network, or No More Deaths/No Más Muertes that provide direct assistance to those affected by border policies.
Contact your elected representatives to express concerns about border policies that harm communities and economies on both sides.
Participate in cultural exchange programs that strengthen ties between US and Mexican communities.
Support local businesses with cross-border connections that contribute to the unique character of the borderlands.
Stay informed about border policies and their impacts, looking beyond headlines to understand the lived realities of borderland communities.
The future of the borderlands will be determined not just by policies drafted in Washington or Mexico City, but by the daily acts of solidarity and connection between people who understand that we are, and have always been, fundamentally interconnected.
What experiences have you had crossing the US-Mexico border recently? Have you noticed changes in the atmosphere or procedures?
How do you think communities on both sides of the border can maintain close relationships despite political tensions between the two countries? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Quotes
"We are the borderlands. We have always been and we will always be." — Rafael Barcelo de Raso, explaining the permanent nature of US-Mexico interconnection despite temporary political tensions
"Reality is more stubborn than any politician." — Rafael Barcelo de Raso, on how the interconnected nature of the region transcends political rhetoric
"We're in a period where I'm telling people who are permanent residents, don't go back to Mexico unless you have to, because we're being... we have a hostile, almost a presumption of guilt or presumption of insurgency or malice when it comes to people now who are in the US." — Keith Rosenblum, describing the current border atmosphere
"I think there's a witch hunt going on right now both that we know about and also that we don't know about." — Keith Rosenblum, on the current state of immigration enforcement
"The numbers [of migrants crossing] are on a record low. It has been quite low since June 2024, but it's particularly low now that there's this whole and massive attention to the topic." — Rafael Barcelo de Raso, contradicting political narratives about border "crises"
"Beyond the economic damage... the insult to the pride." — Ben Bueller Garcia, on the psychological impact of deteriorating US-Mexico relations
People Mentioned and Memorable Quotes
Rafael Barcelo de Raso (Consul of Mexico in Tucson): "We see that in the mixed status families, and even in US citizens that have Mexican origin. We've had a boom of people requesting double citizenship."
Keith Rosenblum (Border observer, former journalist): "If you give somebody a badge and then you give somebody a gun... you're giving people the prerogative to intimidate and harassing is not far off."
Ben Bueller Garcia (Community leader, Mexican citizen): "You can flip a tariff switch on and off, but the psychological damage of hurting those friendships, I think is going to last for a while."
Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum (President of Mexico): Described by Consul Barcelo as "not only cool-headed, but also warm-hearted" with a "social approach to things" and being "fact-driven" as a scientist with a PhD in physics.
Bill Buckmaster (Host): Radio host conducting interviews about border relations and immigration policy.
Jim Kolbe (Mentioned): Former U.S. Representative who served Southern Arizona for 22 years, worked on NAFTA negotiations.
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
"Reality is more stubborn than any politician." — Rafael Barcelo de Raso, on how the interconnected nature of the region transcends political rhetoric