Ambassador visits Elmhurst

Congressmember Joseph Crowley escorted Colombian Ambassador to the United States, Carolina Barco, on a whirlwind tour of Centro Civico Colombiano in Elmhurst recently.
The abbreviated tour of the civic center, located at 90-37 Corona Avenue, followed a Manhattan conference of the Council of the Americas in Manhattan earlier on Thursday, April 12.
Both Crowley and Barco received plaques for their service to the community from the organization, which has served the borough’s estimated 200,000 Colombians at their Elmhurst headquarters for the past 28 years.
Following the presentation, Crowley and Barco took questions, before the Ambassador was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C.
Barco told the group that the “Registradura Nacional” (National Registry), which issues their National Identity Cards, is a separate agency from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issues passports. She explained that while the passport situation had improved, the registry was “working hard” to improve delivery of the cards to Colombian nationals in the U.S.
According to Silvia Constain Rengifo, Deputy Director of the Colombian Government Trade Bureau, the delay in issuing the cards “is a huge issue,” both in Colombia and among the expatriate community.
Crowley told the crowd that the area of immigration reform was “a rare case where a Republican President agrees more with a Democratic Congress than his own party” and that he hoped for progress. He also explained that members of Congress don’t have “member item” budget grants like State Legislators do, but he promised that the center is “on the list” to be funded for computer upgrades.