MEXICALI.- With unanimous approval, the Protection of Rights and Migrant Support law has been passed by Baja California's Congress. Representative Laura Torres has called on state authorities and municipal authorities to put in place public policies that respect individual rights of migrants, and which don't discriminate against repatriated Mexican nationals or migrants in transit.

The bill was first introduced in February by Rep. Cuauhtemoc Cardona Benavides, and was modified almost completely by legislator Torres, President of the Commision of Border Issues for the State Congress.

In 2011, Mexico's national congress passed the Migration Law, which replaced an earlier bill dating back to 1947. Since then, Baja has been the state that has received the most amount of migrants in the entire country, and is also the entity with the largest amount of foreign residents, while lacking legislative oversight of migrant rights.

Among the five additions to the law made by the legislator is the obligation of the State System of Integral Development of the Family (DIF) to "provide social assistance toward migrant children, and adolescent migrants that are unaccompanied and require protective services."

This acknowledgment of the importance of caring for vulnerable migrant groups includes women, elderly, disabled, and victims of crime.

Another important inclusion is the creation of the State Registry of Migrants, which "will enable family reunification whereby migrants can voluntarily enroll so that their family members can know where they are or if they passed through Baja California, while at the same time safeguarding their personal information," according to Laura Torres.

Also, the authority of the Migrant Protection Commissioner, which was created in December 2013, was increased by the law, whereas before state authorities in coordination with not-for profit and community based organizations were at work, but formerly lacked any legislative backing in Baja California.

Laura Torres called on public servants in the state and various municipalities to not "discriminate against or deny services to people with uncertain immigration status", one of the primary concerns of pro-immigrant groups.

In order to fulfill this request, an article was included to establish that judges and civil registrars may not deny migrants access to birth certificates, or access to publicly recording births, marriages, divorces, or deaths, for example.

Finally, Torres stated that "the Law that was passed today in Baja California will not only give legal protections to migrants in a vulnerable condition, but will also put in place laws that should be enacted in all three levels of government in order to ensure that treaties and international conventions related to migration are not violated."

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