Posted on 02/08/2005 6:27:26 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to continue to accept identification cards issued by foreign consulates but to train county employees to help them detect fraudulent cards.
The decision came after Supervisor Mike Antonovich announced he had been given a fraudulent Mexican identification card with his own photo on it and urged fellow supervisors not to accept the cards.
The motion passed by a 3-2 vote with Supervisors Gloria Molina, Yvonne B. Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky in favor, and Antonovich and Don Knabe voting against the measure.
The Mexican consular cards are by far the most common in the United States. Nearly 450,000 cards are in circulation in Los Angeles County and about 2.1 million nationwide, according to Ruben Beltran, Consul general of Mexico. They are accepted by 377 cities, dozens of counties and more than 1,000 police departments across the United States, Beltran said.
Antonovich argued the cards promote illegal immigration because they provide documentation to individuals without visas and also aid criminals by allowing them to use phony names to escape police watch lists.
Beltran, however, told the board Tuesday that the latest cards have a variety of security measures, including microscopic printing, a hologram and information that can only be seen under ultraviolet light or with a special lens.
He said Mexico is willing to provide thousands of the laminated decoder lenses to Los Angeles law enforcement agencies and to provide training in spotting forgeries.
The matricula, as the Mexican card is called, is not a work permit or a card entitling the bearer to get welfare or other social services, Beltran said.
"It's just an ID. It's a reliable, secure and verifiable means of identification," he said.
The card is currently accepted by 14 county agencies, including libraries and the Sheriff's Department, said David E. Janssen, the county's chief administrative officer.
"We have encountered no problems with the card," he said.
Antonovich's spokesman Tony Bell said the card with the supervisor's likeness was given unsolicited to Antonovich, but he did not know by whom.
Beltran said it took about 30 seconds for the consular to spot the forgeries in the card with Antonovich's picture.
He added that he has seen forged California driver's licenses but "that doesn't allow us to lambast the DMV."
It's the water isn't it.
LEFT COAST insanity bump.
Raisins
My tag line says it all!
But somehow the left coast FReepers will blame Bush.
"He added that he has seen forged California driver's licenses but "that doesn't allow us to lambast the DMV."
Why not?
This IS Bush 41's fault, bub.
I'm not bub.
How is it Bush's fault that 14 of the LA County agencies accept the Mexican consular card when other agiencies, counties, cities, states anf federal agencies do not?
Are the conservatives in California ever going to accept responsibility for their own inability to control their state and local policies?
Could it be that blaming Bush is just a way of deflecting blame from themselves for engaging in kamakaze politics instead of smart politics?
The conservatives had a majority on the LA County Board of Supervisors. Bush ordered the Dept of Justice to sue LA County and force new districts. As a result, the election of Sarah Flores was invalidated, and Gloria Molina won instead, and a leftist majority has controlled ever since.
Surely, SOME So Cal Freepers remember this?
Mike Antotnovitch is the only conservative left on the board and approaching 65 (he was 2 years behind me in school) I don't know if he will run for another term or not.
Being the lone no vote most of the time, i'm supprised that he ran again this time.
well, each sup is still largely in charge of his/her own district (some call them fiefdoms).
It's probably one of the most powerfull positions in the US.
They manage a budget larger than most of the states with no one above them.
I've known Mike for almost 60 years and next time I see him i'll ask him what his intentions are.
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