Deportation fears spark long post office lines
Central Coast post offices are seeing a high demand for passports.
Many people saying they want them to secure their status in the U.S.
People in line said they were prepared for a long wait but were still surprised by just how long that wait was.
Though it doesn’t make for a fun way to spend time, one local immigration attorney says it’s still important.
Applying for and renewing a passport isn’t what customers at this Salinas Post Office are calling a speedy process.
According to many of the people present, the lines have been long for weeks. Wait times have lasted up to 5 hours.
“I expected to come here and then catch my second period class but I guess I’m not.” said student Nasar Shoaibi.
Nasar says missing that class and waiting in line for hours though is worth it.
He’s concerned that President Trump’s immigration policies will affect his security in the U.S.
“Because I’m an immigrant, I wasn’t born here [President Trump] may be like ‘Oh you’re an immigrant, you might not be able to stay here.'”
Though it’s a time-consuming process, immigration attorney Blanca Zarazua says families with U.S. born children also need to take steps to make sure their children have their passports.
“It avoids the deportation right? Or any question about the status of the children to start off with” said Zarazua. “Then if they need to travel to Mexico yes, that U.S. passport will come in very handy.”
A spokesperson with the U.S. Postal Service says that the local postmaster is taking steps to add resources to this post office that will cut wait times.
Making it faster for families and individuals to get their passport.
“They’re opening a bigger passport office where we’ll have more clerks and we’ll have the ability to handle three times as many people as we’re handling right now.” said Bay Area Postal Spokesperson Augustine Ruiz.
He adds that the post office says the expanded passport center is set to open in the first week of April.
Meantime, they urge everyone to check the USPS website to ensure that they have all of the documents needed before waiting in line.
