By 7 a.m., the first 100 early birds were filling out forms for processing by traveling members of the Mexican Consulate's office in Salt Lake City, who arrived at 8 a.m.

The consulate was in the southern Utah city to help with a variety of issues: from renewing passports to getting identification cards and other documents from the Mexican government or learning how to send the body of a relative back to their native country for burial. Officials didn't discuss immigration issues or handle disputes with local, state or federal governments.

The consulate's office brought computers with links to the foreign ministry in Mexico, which made Saturday's visit more efficient than an earlier visit in June when time ran out before everyone needing assistance could be helped, said Tony Yapias, director of the advocacy group Proyecto Latino of Utah, who volunteered to help with the visit.

"The difference [Saturday] is that we can get the work done and documents issued the same day," Yapias said. "Last time we had to send everything [documents] to Salt Lake to be processed and send them back two weeks later."

Another difference Saturday was the lack of demonstrators, such as the Minutemen, an anti-illegal immigration group, who had protested the consulate's presence in June.

By 11:15 a.m. Saturday, consulate official Manuel J. Morodo said about 350 people had passed through the doors of the Kuzy Social Hall for assistance. Once paperwork was processed and documents issued, his team would move on. The Salt Lake City consulate office's jurisdiction also includes Idaho, Montana and western Wyoming. "There are about 450,000 Mexican nationals in our jurisdiction, so we are always moving in order to bring them services," he said.

Also at the meeting was Lehi Rodriguez, a manager for SereniCare Funeral Home, which has four locations in Utah and specializes in helping families return dead relatives for burial in Mexico.

"We want to educate people that there are options when someone dies," Rodriguez said. "People will often cremate someone here or bury them thinking they can't afford to send them back to Mexico, but it can be inexpensive with help from the consulate."

The business does everything from picking up bodies and embalming them to getting caskets and handling paperwork to send them to Mexico. The cost is about $3,000, but the consulate offers up to $1,500 to help offset the expense.

St. George resident Santiago Leon, who got his passport renewed, said the consulate's visit saved him a 400-mile trip to Salt Lake City. "I am thankful for what they did," said Leon.

mhavnes@sltrib.com