Former Mexican consul in Yuma Escobar dies
Miguel Escobar, a former Mexican consul in Yuma, died over the weekend in Hermosillo, Son.
Escobar died from what Hermosillo media said was cardiac arrest while visiting his daughters in that city. He was 81.
Escobar, a native of Guaymas, Son., served from 2006 to 2012 as Mexico’s consul in Yuma. The consulate provides a variety of services to Mexican nationals living in Yuma and La Paz counties, such as processing paperwork for passports, birth certificates and other official documents; providing referrals for health and other services in the community; and conducting absentee voting for Mexican elections.
Prior to coming to Yuma, he served with Mexican consulates in Chicago, Atlanta and Douglas. His retirement as Yuma consul capped a 22-year-career with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Relations.
Before going into a foreign service career, Escobar worked in Mexico as a journalist and writer and served in academic positions.
In 2006, as the United States began fortifying sections of the border fence, Escobar published “El Muro de la Vergüenza, Crónica de una Tragedia” (“The Wall of Shame, Chronicle of a Tragedy”) in his country. The book related the experiences of illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States, but also criticized U.S. efforts to fortify the border.
He also was a contributor “Binational Human Rights, the U.S.-Mexico Experience,” a book edited by researchers William Paul Simmons and Carol Mueller and published by the University of Pennsylvania.