Citizens of Guatemala lined up at 2 a.m. Sunday morning at St. Andrews Center to obtain Guatemalan passports and government identification cards. Saturday’s crew saw 1,000 requests, which were completed at midnight. In all, the Guatemalan consul’s mobile unit from Atlanta processed 1,300 requests at St. Andrews Center, though 700 others were denied on Sunday. The consulate plans to return this summer.

“One of our big goals is to help provide ways for the Hispanic community to be part of the Chattanooga community…to bring people together,” said the Rev. Mike Feely, executive director of the St. Andrews Center. The majority of Chattanooga’s estimated 15,000-strong Hispanic population are from Guatemala.

According to Katheryn Thompson of Chattanooga State’s Plaza Comunitaria program, those returning to Guatemala without a passport may be sent to jail. A Guatemalan passport or identification card is also good documentation for U.S. citizenship application, though the identification cards are not valid in the United States.

Ms. Thompson said immigrant children born in the United States as U.S. citizens must prove dual citizenship in order to travel to Guatemala with their parents. If these children try to leave Guatemala, the government issues a fine per day spent in Guatemala illegally. She says the cost is so high that many cannot afford to leave.

“It was the most gracious group of people we’ve ever met,” said the Rev. Feely, explaining that some waited in lines for 10 hours.

“Even today when so many of them got turned down, they wanted to know when (the consuls) were coming back. It’s a wonderful group of people,” said Mirtha Jones, Coordinator of Hispanic Outreach at Chattanooga State.

The project is a joint effort among the Guatemalan Consul’s mobile unit, Chattanooga State, the city of Chattanooga, La Paz de Dios, and volunteers from UTC, Chattanooga State and Southern Adventist University.

An event like this last was held three years ago when a Guatemalan consulate came to Chattanooga from Washington, D.C. The consulate office in Atlanta is one year old. Guatemalans traveled from Virginia, North Carolina and Nashville to Chattanooga this weekend.

“The Guatemalan community is really a great part of Chattanooga, and I’m glad we were able to help them out,” said the Rev. Feely.