More than 20,000 Mexicans living in Alaska -- including those who had lived here illegally and plan to sign up for President Barack Obama's immigration program -- will have an easier time getting birth certificates.
That's thanks to a service launched last week by the Mexican government to allow certified copies of those records to be issued by embassies and consulates around the world, including the Mexican consulate in Alaska.
Previously, Mexicans had to travel to the towns and cities where they were registered as newborns -- or have relatives do it for them and mail them the birth certificates -- in a painstaking effort to get the paperwork needed to acquire passports, driver's licenses and work permits.
"It used to be a nightmare," said Gabriel Estrada, 35, who was the first to sign up at the consulate in downtown Anchorage.
Estrada, a UPS driver, had previously avoided getting copies of his birth certificate because of the wait and trouble. When he visited Mexico, he'd make sure to leave with extra copies.
"It used to be time, money and calling relatives. This is awesome," he said after presenting identification and picking up a certificate printed out at the consulate.
The effort has been some two years in the making, with the federal government in Mexico working with Mexican states to create a centralized database of birth records, said Marisela Quijano, the acting consul in Alaska.
"This will be very helpful" for a lot of Alaskans, she said.
That includes me. I was born in Mexico City in 1970 but moved to the U.S. as a toddler after my parents -- an American mother and a Mexican father -- divorced.
I didn't own a birth certificate issued by the Mexican government but had a tattered proof of birth from the U.S. consulate. The very day I got assigned this story -- and learned about the new service -- I'd already been thinking I should confirm whether I had dual citizenship. Who knows, maybe it'd come in handy if I ever wanted to buy land in Mexico.
So, with identification in hand, I signed up at the consulate Thursday, becoming the second person in Alaska to try. An initial computer search using my last name turned up nothing, leaving me bummed -- it's a bit of a blow being told you don't exist.
But Quijano tried again. A second search under my mother's maiden name worked, turning up my full name and identity number and showing I'd been registered in my Mexican family's hometown in Huitzuco, Guerrero.
Within minutes, the consulate produced my first Mexican birth certificate for $13. But that wasn't all. After giving my fingerprints and posing for a photo, I purchased a shiny new Mexican passport -- also created within minutes -- for $101.
I don't have any immediate plans for the documents. But they're important symbols of my Mexican nationality -- complementing those of my U.S. citizenship -- and I left the office feeling a bit more connected to my past.