Balancing Activism, Diplomacy

Most diplomats see their jobs as explaining their countries to citizens of the nation where they are now stationed, boosting trade and helping their fellow citizens when they run into trouble with the law in a foreign land. The job requires an understanding of nuances, a balance between expressing a home government’s opinion and lecturing residents of a nation where the diplomat is, after all, a guest. Miguel Angel Isidro, the Mexican consul for Orange County, has been walking that tightrope since taking up his job Oct. 1.

Isidro’s style is markedly different from that of his predecessor, Marisela Quijano.

While upset by anti-immigrant sentiment in the county, Quijano was gentler in reminding American questioners what Mexican immigrants contribute to society. Isidro, in an interview with Times staff writer Maria Elena Fernandez, was more direct, chiding “some conservative political sectors in the county” who do not understand that immigrants are responsible for, among other things, well-kept gardens and golf courses and picking agricultural crops.

Isidro also came up with the idea of posting fliers in English and Spanish in the Santa Ana jail to notify Mexican citizens that they have rights under U.S. laws. He also has toured the jail to see the conditions of inmates, a standard part of a diplomat’s duty.

But Isidro has stepped forward as well in joining the Santa Ana Police Department in distributing fliers in areas where day laborers congregate. These fliers tell the workers about the municipal codes they must heed to seek jobs without receiving summonses from police.

The new consul is a veteran diplomat at age 37. His previous posts included four years in Hungary and three years as deputy consul in Phoenix. In Arizona, anti-immigrant sentiment was “less virulent” than in Orange County, Isidro said. That’s one reason he sees one of his jobs as explaining the benefits of immigration.

He also wants to help Santa Ana in its efforts to lessen the number of pedestrian injuries. The majority of Santa Ana’s residents are Latino, many of them Mexican immigrants. A higher percentage of residents than in other cities are thought to have no cars and to pound the pavement more often. Many immigrants come from rural areas of Mexico where automobile traffic is not as heavy and quick-moving.

Isidro thinks some natives of Mexico may be more inclined to heed the consulate’s warnings against jaywalking and other dangerous activities than the police’s admonitions. If he can help, it would benefit motorists and pedestrians.

Spelling out the benefits of immigration without pouring more fuel on a burning issue will not be easy. Isidro needs to be careful that his advocacy of Mexico’s interests is not so strident as to sour his listeners. But good diplomats can argue persuasively on behalf of their native land and enhance its standing in the eyes of the nations where they temporarily reside.