As the Trump Administration continues its efforts to round up criminal aliens, the Mexican government is beginning a nationwide campaign in the U.S. to help “protect” migrants. The campaign will be waged in all 50 Mexican consulates across the U.S.

It appears Mexico does not want criminal aliens in the United States returned to their country. “What changes today is that we are prioritizing legal matters over everything. Previously, we didn’t have the need to seek so much legal support for our people,” Miami’s Consul General Antonio Zabalgoitia told the Associated Press on Friday. “But now, we need to protect them against an eventual deportation.”

The Trump Administration, under the leadership of Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, is conducting targeted enforcement actions against criminal aliens across the U.S. One effort, carried out in February, landed nearly 700 criminal aliens in detention. ICE officials are processing those criminal aliens for removal.

“ICE conducts these kind of targeted enforcement operations regularly and has for many years,” Secretary Kelly said in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “The focus of these enforcement operations is consistent with the routine, targeted arrests carried out by ICE’s Fugitive Operations teams on a daily basis.”

To counter this effort, the Mexican consulates are joining up with law schools, immigration clinics, and nonprofit organizations that specialize in helping foreign nationals. The Mexican government will place attorneys in these facilities to provide assistance to those facing deportation, the AP reported. The consulates are also working with private law firms to provide assistance.

During a meeting at the New York Consulate, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray called the effort a “moral imperative.”

“It is something that we will continue to do by obligation and conviction,” the foreign minister told the AP. He expressed that the workload being faced by consulates is escalating rapidly. “I used to sign two birth certificates a week,” he said. “Only yesterday, I signed 15.”

Videgaray previously stated Mexico was allocating about $54 million to provide services to migrants living in the U.S., Breitbart News reported.

The Mexican consulate in Houston described war-like conditions facing migrants.

“The tolerance is gone. I think that’s the best way of describing it,” Oscar Solis, a first secretary of the Mexican consulate in Houston, told the AP. “It’s like in wars. They come for one person and many who are innocent–or not really involved–end up paying.”

The Mexican consulate in Houston serves about 500,000 Mexican nationals who live in the area. Officials stated requests for Mexican birth certificates have increased by 50 percent since the Trump Administration’s crackdown began.

Breitbart Texas visited the Houston consulates’ website to learn about the process for obtaining a birth certificate. The website lists the following steps:

Application filled in clear, legible and without erasures or amendments Submit an official identification stating that the applicant is the holder of the birth certificate. You can submit any of the following identifications:

Voting credential (IFE)

Mexican passport in force

Current consular registration

National Military Service card

Professional ID

Job title

Certificate of Mexican nationality

Declaration of Mexican nationality by birth

Naturalization letter

Valid credential issued by the National Institute of Older Persons or its equivalent.

Foreign driving license in force

Foreign official identification. IMPORTANT: The name of the identification must match the name that appears in the birth certificate. 3. Provide the following information: CURP (if any)

Full name of the registered

Registered Sex: Female or Male

State of the Mexican Republic where the birth registration was carried out.

Place and date of birth of the registrant.

Names and surnames of the parents of the registrant.

Address of the applicant.

Applicant’s telephone number (landline or cell phone).

Applicant email (if available).

Make the payment of rights: US $ 13 for each certified copy.

Consular officials stated that 92 percent of Mexican birth certificates had been digitized, leaving eight percent to be digitized in the future

Mexican nationals who have overstayed visas are also requesting assistance from the consulates. In Phoenix, Gloria Portillo, a Mexican national who allowed her visa to expire three years ago, told the AP, “We’ve been here all of our lives, we have kids, and of course we’re afraid to be deported.”

The AP did not ask the Phoenix woman why she waited until this time to begin the process of renewing her legal status. She recently married an American citizen.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.