Many of the affected workers have spent years or decades in the U.S., handling passports, consular identification cards, birth certificates and voter credentials for Mexican nationals. "I would be left in a vulnerable situation, undocumented and without a job," she told El País. The issue dates to 2016, when the Obama administration changed the terms of A-2 visas held by roughly 1,700 Mexican consular contractors, limiting them to five years and eliminating indefinite renewals. A Mexican foreign service official told El País that some former consular employees have remained in the country without legal status after their visas expired. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said there is no reason to close the offices, arguing that the consulates respect U.S. politics.