History
The first American consular office established in Monterrey was a Consular Agency, which opened on February 6, 1892. For several years prior to and following the establishment of the Consular Agency at Monterrey, consular officers in northern Mexico were under the supervision of the Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo. Monterrey, however, was more favorably situated as a point for supervisory work since it had better communications facilities with other points in the Republic and it was the most important industrial city and distribution center in northern Mexico. Therefore, on February 1, 1898, the Department of State authorized the transfer of the Consulate General to Monterrey. The office in Nuevo Laredo was simultaneously made a Consulate.
Since 1892, American consulate General offices have occupied twelve locations in Monterrey, including several private homes, a grocery store near Plaza Hidalgo, various office buildings, and the current site on Avenida Constitución. The present building was the first of those occupied that had been specifically constructed to serve as the Consulate General.
The first Consular Agent was Ellsworth J. Wiggins, who began his duties on February 6, 1892. The current Consul General, Bruce Williamson, assumed charge of the Consulate General in August of 2007. In the intervening 108 years, 37 men and two women served as principal officers of the Consulate General and its predecessor offices. Some of the more recent Consuls General still remembered in Monterrey include Ruth A. McLendon, Frank M. Tucker Jr., Martin G. Heflin, John E. Bennett, Jake M. Dyels Jr., Eileen Heaphy, Daniel Johnson, Robert B. Nolan, John Ritchie and Luis G. Moreno.
Probably the most interesting segment of the Consulate General history took place during Mexico's struggle between Federal and Constitutionalist forces. On April 21, 1914, word reached Monterrey that American forces had taken Veracruz. There were demonstrations throughout the city against American intervention in Mexico and many American flags were publicly burned in the streets. The following day, a police lieutenant with a force of men thoroughly searched the Consulate General and took Consul General Philip C. Hanna prisoner. The Consul General was taken before a military court and charged with being in sympathy with the Constitutionalist forces. It was believed by many that the Consul General would be executed or carried to the mountains as a prisoner. However, he was released safely when Constitutionalist forces took the city on April 23. On June 20, 1916, the Consulate General was closed due to strained relations between the Mexican and the American governments over American attempts to capture General "Pancho" Villa (who incidentally had been the Consul General's dinner guest in March 1915).
Consul General Hanna opened an office in San Antonio, Texas, for the purpose of keeping the American government informed concerning activities in northern Mexico.
The Consulate General reopened on March 20, 1917, following the inauguration of Emilio Carranza as President of Mexico and the normalization of relations between the two countries.
Today, the Consulate General in Monterrey is one of the largest and busiest consulates in the world. The Monterrey consular district, includes Nuevo Leon, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and most of Coahuila. This district has nearly 11 million inhabitants (the size of Texas), The Consulate General staff includes 54 Americans representing eight U.S. government agencies plus their 98 Mexican employees. The Consulate General also oversees a Consular Agency in San Luis Potosi. The American Citizen Services (ACS) unit assists numerous Americans in distress in case of arrest, sickness or accident, death or disappearance. ACS also provides a wide range of passport, citizenship and notarial services to the estimated 85,000 American Citizens who are permanently resident in the consular district.
The Commercial Section generates millions of dollars of export income for American firms through a vigorous "Trade Opportunity" program, market research studies, trade missions (2 per month) and gold key services through which US companies locate distributors, agents, franchises and joint venture partners and also informs potential investors of economic conditions and trends in Mexico.
The Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) unit at the Consulate General served an unprecedented 346,000 visa applicants in Fiscal Year 2001 and issued more than 377,000 visas to mostly Mexican Citizens to visit the United States, conduct business, study, and participate in cultural and academic exchanges. In fact, the NIV unit processed some 70,000 applicants for temporary employment in the US in agricultural, construction, forestry and other economic sectors with demonstrated shortages of workers making Consulate General Monterrey the largest processing post for such cases in the world.
The Public Affairs Section (PAS) facilitates, and directly conducts numerous academic and cultural exchanges annually in the whole region using Speakers, Digital Video Conferencing, and Internet resources. PAS handles all press inquires for the Consulate mission in northeastern Mexico.
Other U.S. Government Law Enforcement Agencies also have offices at the American Consulate General in Monterrey in order to carry out far-ranging programs directly related to reducing international crime and making the streets of both Mexico and the United States safer. Serving America, the American community and the Mexican public is the job of the American Consulate General in Monterrey.
In 2002, The Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) was added to the Consulate General.