MEXICO- Alicia Hernández is sure of one thing: “I’m not going to give up.” This 35-year-old immigrant who changed her name for strategic reasons wants justice and hopes to achieve it sooner or later because His ex-partner has not provided support for his 13- and 14-year-old children since the youngest of them was a few months old.
“It has been very difficult to move forward alone,” she says in an interview with this newspaper.
Based in Atlanta, Alicia Hernández is one of the thousands of cases of Mexican women in the United States that have not yet been reported to local authorities that the The father of her children was deported to Mexico and does not pay child support. But soon it will.
According to the Reciprocal Program for the Collection of Mexico-United States Alimony (UIFSA), Mexico has received only 110 requests for alimony from 27 states of the American Union while Mexico has requested 1,485 from here.
“The UIFSA law allows that when the alimony debtor is outside the state where their minor children reside, they can be located, brought before a local court that decides if the support is appropriate and the amount for the parents to comply with,” said Noemí Hernández, coordinator of family law from the Consular Protection area of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In an interview with this newspaper, the official explained that currently The Foreign Ministry promotes a manual that seeks to explain in a simple and didactic way the step by step so that affected families can report the parents. who do not comply with the obligation to provide financial support to minors.
It clarifies that it is not up to consulates in the US or the passport issuing offices in Mexico or the central offices of the SRE to demand the pension, but rather to facilitate the process before the Mexican or US state courts.
To do this, the first thing a woman has to do, abandoned to her fate with her children by her partner – who are the majority, although there are also cases of disenfranchised mothers – is to call +52 55 36865100 and ask for extension 7649 or 7698 or 4688, if you are in Mexico; from abroad, extensions 7648 or 7690 and raise the case.
You can also write to dgpmexterior@sre.gob.mx or personally attend the passport processing offices in each state of Mexico; In the US, they can go to the consular offices.
IN U.S.A.
Noemí Hernández suggests that in the cases of mothers who are in the United States, it is better go first to the offices of child support, whose names vary according to each state and each one has a process to follow to demand alimony in another country.
There they will ask for the following information about the debtor: date of birth, identification, if possible; the new address, city and employer information. Based on this information, the child support offices take the case to a local court that decides, based on the investigation, the amount of support and whether it should be paid.
For any procedure they can receive support from the Foreign Ministry, whether the father is in Mexico or the United States. “The most difficult thing is to get the payment executed, but every year there are hundreds of rulings in favor and hundreds of millions of dollars are collected that are sent in checks or deposited into a bank account.
The program has been in operation for decades, but cases accumulate because each of them remains open until the children turn 18, regardless of whether the parents move from one state to another in the American Union or in Mexico. Every time there is a change of entity, payment must be demanded again, if the father does not do so.
On the other hand, There are US states that do not collaborate on the issue. According to SRE information they are: Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Nebraska.
“They say that there is no international treaty and, then, reciprocally, cases from those states are not dealt with here,” acknowledges Hernández.
IN MEXICO
When the children are in Mexico and the debtor is in the United States, the procedure is directly with the SRE. The path begins with the report at the passport processing offices or at the offices on Avenida Juárez 20.
The Foreign Ministry sends the request to the courts of each US state where the father lives and is responsible for being in contact with the family in Mexico. The time of the process until resolution, clarifies official Hernández, depends on the amount of data that can be provided about the debtor.
“If they do not know the city where they live or work, it is very difficult for an authority to reach a satisfactory ruling or if they do not know the employer or the amount of the salary,” he details.
“It is surprising how many women know how to obtain the necessary documents, they contact an accountant, a brother-in-law, a mother-in-law or accomplices; They keep the ITIN (alternative number for reporting taxes) or account statements.”
Even if they are undocumented, they find a way, he highlights: “What I advise is that the claim for alimony be made as soon as possible after the father stops paying.”
It is not an easy process. It can last a few months or years if not done correctly.
A proposal is currently being considered in Congress that seeks to also deny consular registration to food debtors. For now, Congress approved that passports be denied to those who appear on a registry. For this, there must be a complaint.
REQUESTS MADE (H) AND RECEIVED (R) BY MEXICO
Arizona 64 (H) – 9(R)
Arkansas 3-0
California 713-20
North Carolina 59-2
Colorado 0-1
Connecticut- 0-1
Columbia 0-7
Philadelphia 0-16
Georgia 26-0
Idaho 4
Illinois 107-2
Indiana 18
Kansas 11
Louisiana 3
Massachusetts 2
Michigan 18
Minnesota 13
Nebraska 6-1
Nevada 32-2
New Jersey 0-3
New York 61-19
New Orleans 0-2
New Mexico 8-1
Oregon 10-1
Pennsylvania 8-1
Raleigh 0-2
Texas 275-6
Utah 28-1
Virginia 0-1
West Virginia 0-1
Washington 28
Washington DC 2
Total: 1485- 110
Source: SRE
Figures updated as of June 30, 2023.
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