Posted on 09/10/2005 10:37:55 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
Controversy roils over Mexican ID
Rarely has a single piece of plastic ignited such ire or drawn such support as the Mexican consular identification card, a document the Mexican government issues its citizens who are living abroad.
Mexican government officials actively encourage Mexican citizens in the United States to get the card, known as the matricula consular. Mexican officials say the purpose of the high-tech photo ID is to enable consulate officials to identify and protect Mexican citizens and to allow them access to consular services.
However, the cards serve as much more. And that is what many activists opposed to illegal immigration say is the problem. Several area banks and three local law enforcement agencies ---- the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, and Escondido and Oceanside police departments ---- accept the cards as a valid form of ID. In early June, a group of about 50 local and out-of-town people protested at two Fallbrook banks and a Western Union office that they said accepted the matricula consular. As they waved signs emblazoned with such slogans as "Only illegals have matricula consular cards," other angry residents drove by waving Mexican flags out their car windows and yelled at the protesters.
Critics of the cards say they pose a threat to national security, encourage illegal immigrants to stay in the country, and serve as an additional enticement for others to cross the border illegally.
The Mexican Consul General for San Diego County has said that the cards do not cause illegal immigration and that activists fighting illegal immigration are using the cards as a scapegoat.
In June, an Escondido councilwoman called on the city to ban the consulate from taking its mobile card-making unit to city events, saying that the cards subvert immigration laws. Earlier that month, dozens of protesters demonstrated outside Fallbrook banks, accusing them of abetting illegal immigrants by accepting the cards to open bank accounts.
Banks reap business
Much of the controversy has focused on the acceptance of the cards by banks that allow illegal immigrants without documents to use the cards to open accounts and get loans.
Starting in 2003, a change in U.S. Treasury rules allowed banks and other financial institutions to accept matricula cards as valid identification to open accounts.
Bank accounts give immigrants more than just a safe place to keep their money, however. They are a first step toward establishing credit. They also provide access to other bank services, such as inexpensive wire transfers that allow immigrants to send money to their families in Mexico.
The Mexican Embassy reported in 2004 that the matricula consular was accepted as valid identification by 178 financial institutions in the United States, and 1,180 police departments, according to a report issued earlier this year by the Congressional Research Service.
A glossy brochure handed out at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego promises Mexicans that having one of the cards "can make your dreams come true," allow Mexican citizens to open bank accounts, get credit cards and even "own the home of (their) dreams."
Opponents fume
Those are fighting words to some anti-illegal immigration activists, who say the Mexican ID cards are little more than an incentive for more people to enter the country illegally. They say the cards encourage undocumented residents to stay in this country by making life easier for them.
Opponents also say the ID cards encourage immigrants who are in the United States illegally to send money out of the country, hurting the economy by contributing to the export of U.S. dollars. In addition, they say that all or nearly all of the cards are issued to illegal immigrants.
Two recent occurrences in North County highlight the controversy surrounding the matricula consular.
Waldron said her objections to the cards go beyond the mobile consular unit setting up shop on public property.
"The matricula card subverts U.S. immigration law," she said.
Banks and other institutions that accept the cards as valid ID are "aiding and abetting (illegal immigrants) ... to make money off of illegal immigration," Waldron said.
State Sen. Bill Morrow, a long-standing supporter of stricter enforcement of immigration laws, agreed with Waldron.
"I hate to say this, but for our banking institutions, it's the pull of the almighty dollar; they all know that so many of these people are illegal immigrants, and to me that is aiding their breaking the law," Morrow said.
Widespread use
According to Mexican officials cited in a 2005 congressional report, there are approximately 4 million Mexicans in the United States who possess the matricula consular. Of those, about 2.2 million have the newer high-tech version that the Mexican government began issuing in 2002, in the wake of security concerns that grew out of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
The general consul at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego said recently that he didn't know what percentage of the cards go to immigrants who are living in the United States illegally.
"That's something we don't check ---- we are not U.S. immigration authorities," said General Consul Luis Cabrera.
He added that the matricula consular is nothing more than a registry of Mexican citizens living in the United States. The controversy over the use of the cards by illegal immigrants "is a false debate," Cabrera said.
He said critics are unfairly blaming the cards for encouraging illegal immigration when the real source of the problem is the market's demand for cheap labor.
"People don't come here to get a matricula consular, they come here to work," Cabrera said.
But, it's not that simple, said Salvador Zamora, a Washington, D.C., spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol.
When banks and other financial institutions accept the matricula consular as a legitimate form of identification, it sends a mixed message to illegal immigrants, Zamora said.
"(It says) it's OK to be here illegally, and if you are going to be here illegally, this is how you remain under the radar," he said. "In essence, it is supporting an underground type of society."
Escondido resident Marisol, who said she did not want her last name published, was at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego recently to file paperwork for her matricula consular.
Marisol is an undocumented immigrant who five months ago paid an smuggler $1,000 to bring her across the U.S.-Mexico border in the mountains east of San Diego, she said. She came to the United States to find a job and now works as a maid in North County.
With the matricula consular, she will no longer have to ask relatives with bank accounts to cash her checks, Marisol said.
"I am going to open a bank account, and it will serve as an ID, if the police want to know who I am," she said.
Crime and national security
General Consul Cabrera said the biggest advantage of the matricula consular, from an American perspective, is that it helps assure the government that cardholders are not a security or criminal threat to the United States.
"I think U.S. authorities can be happier with a safe document to identify people," Cabrera said.
In order to obtain a matricula card, applicants must first prove who they are, by providing one of the following documents: a birth certificate, a certificate of Mexican nationality, a certificate of naturalization, or a passport.
Then, they must prove they are in fact that person, by producing a photo identification such as a military service ID card, an electoral ID card, a passport, or an American green card. They are fingerprinted and also must show proof of residence within the consular district. Finally, they must pay a $27 fee.
Cabrera said that criminal background checks are run on all applicants through a Mexican national database, and fugitives or those with felony convictions are disqualified.
The cards have a high-tech design and have a hologram on their surface, making them difficult to falsify, Cabrera said. In addition, the cards carry several hidden security features that are visible only by placing them inside a special viewing sleeve.
Law enforcement agencies are provided with those sleeves, as well as with information on what to look for in determining the cards' authenticity, he added.
"If the police stop somebody, they can call us and check whether that card is valid," Cabrera said.
While the Treasury Department allows use of the cards for banking purposes, other federal agencies take issue with the assertion that the cards provide positive identification and object to the acceptance of the matricula consular.
"The Department of Justice and the FBI have concluded that the matricula consular is not a reliable form of identification, due to the nonexistence of any means of verifying the true identity of the cardholder," said Steve McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, testifying before Congress in 2003.
"The government of Mexico issues the card to anyone who can produce a Mexican birth certificate and one other form of identity, including documents of very low reliability. Mexican birth certificates are easy to forge," McCraw said.
A spokeswoman for the FBI's San Diego office said Friday that McCraw's statements to Congress still reflect the department's position on the use and acceptance of the cards.
State Sen. Morrow said he believes the cards do present a security risk.
"My biggest concern is public safety and the prospect of terrorism," he said. "How easy would it be for terrorists to open bank accounts and hide their assets?"
Local police policies vary
When issuing citations, local law enforcement agencies vary in their policies on the matricula consular. The San Diego Sheriff's Department accepts the cards as identification and does not usually contact the Border Patrol when presented with a card unless deputies suspect the document may have been falsified.
"We are not in the business of enforcing immigration law," said Sheriff's Department spokesman Capt. Glenn Revell.
Carlsbad does not accept them as valid ID, said Sgt. Chris Boyd, a spokesman for the Police Department. In issuing citations to anyone without valid identification, such as a California driver's license, officers take a thumbprint of the offender on the back of the citation, he said.
Officers who suspect they are dealing with illegal immigrants are instructed to call Border Patrol officials, Boyd said.
Oceanside police Sgt. Leonard Mata said his department accepts the matricula consular as valid identification, "if no other identification is available for issuing a citation; and we try and verify the information as best we can."
Officers do not report suspected illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol, "unless a crime is involved," Mata said.
The Escondido Police Department accepts the cards as a valid form of identification, and officers do not normally contact the Border Patrol if they suspect an individual is an illegal immigrant, said Lt. David Mankin.
Conflicting U.S. policies
A local human rights advocate said earlier this summer that the controversy surrounding the cards simply highlights the contradictions of failed immigration policies.
On the one hand, many Americans don't want illegal immigrants in the country and are pushing for stronger enforcement of immigration law. On the other hand, businesses love the profits they realize because of illegal immigrants, said Christian Ramirez, San Diego office director for American Friends Services Committee, an organization that provides humanitarian assistance to illegal immigrants.
"We have the same administration with two completely opposing policies: the Department of Treasury saying 'It's OK for undocumented immigrants to deposit money in American banks'; and the Department of Homeland Security saying, 'We are going to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the border,' " Ramirez said.
A glossy brochure handed out at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego promises Mexicans that having one of the cards "can make your dreams come true," allow Mexican citizens to open bank accounts, get credit cards and even "own the home of (their) dreams."
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MATRICULA, civil law. A register in which are inscribed the names of persons who become members of an association or society. Dig. 50, 3, 1.In the ancient church there was matricula clericorum, which was a catalogue of the officiating clergy; and matricula pauperum, a list of the poor to be relieved; hence to be entered in the university is to be matriculated.
Absolutely sickening that this can go on in our homeland.
"Absolutely sickening that this can go on in our homeland."
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'Whose' homeland?
Remember this one word - you will see it many times between now and November, 2006.
Main Entry: COL•O•NIZE
Pronunciation: 'kä-l&-"nIz
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -nized; -niz•ing
transitive senses
1 a : to establish a colony in or on or of b : to establish in a colony
2 : to send illegal or irregularly qualified voters into <colonizing doubtful districts>
3 : to infiltrate with usually subversive militants for propaganda and strategy reasons <colonize industries>
intransitive senses : to make or establish a colony : SETTLE
- col•o•niz•er noun
I have to wonder why these banks would risk loaning to these folks. They seem to know that the illegals are here to stay, and work, because there is a strong front of businesses that no matter what, will employ them.
I guess to them, it's worth the risk. They are obviously making money at it.
VOTE FOR PEDRO
Controlling illegal immigration is for the most part a lost cause. If we cannot come together even while fellow Americans are dying before our very eyes, on our own soil . We can forget ever reaching agreement for consensus on other vital matters. The dismal lack of a unified response to Katrina has proven the divide between us too wide and deep.
Though consumed with their hatred, I would never have thought to further a political driven agenda, the left and media would have sacrificed human lives. I was wrong, there is no other conclusion for me to draw from their horrific actions during a time of monumental crisis. This is no longer just political warfare, as a direct result of the left's partisanship, people have suffered and died. I now find this to be a very real and actual war, when besieged, it would behoove one come to grip with reality and act accordingly.
Then...from the San Diego Sherrif's web site
The San Diego County Sheriff's authority and mandates for providing law enforcement services can be found in several state and local codes. For instance, the Government Code Sections 26600 - 26602 require the Sheriff to preserve the peace, to make arrests, to prevent unlawful disturbances which come to his attention and to investigate public offenses which have been committed. Also, the San Diego County Charter (Section 605) requires the Sheriff to provide the County with efficient and effective police protection and to perform all the duties required of him by law. Web Site Here
mmm mmm
"This illegal immigration situation is just another New Orleans disaster waiting to happen.."=================================
"'That's something we don't check ---- we are not U.S. immigration authorities,' said General Consul Luis Cabrera..."
With every.single.statement these various Mexican "officials" utter, the lies and distortions of reality pile up and up and up and...it's as if their method is to drive anyone sane into insanity with their weasely double-speak.
Their track record is to say whatever they CAN to weasel their way out of accounting for the irresponsible country and populations and these ongoing rips into integrity, if not complete violation of it.
They're not responsible, they're never responsible...yadayadayada...so here's what I've decided: every bad thing you suspect is true about Mexican government and the intentions of illegal immigrants. They're here to "work" I agree but it's the nature of that "work" that now needs to be highly and closely examined. Such that I agree with the few U.S. politicians in this article who specify that the actions by U.S. based banking groups IS commisseration and aid in illegal behaviors and actions.
About San Diego law enforcement, I am thinking that much that is bad originates in San Diego, so I am not surprised about their ridiculous counter-law-enforcement statement. ~It's-not-THEIR-yob.~
~It's-not-THEIR-yob.~
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And what about 'Special Order 40?'
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This is the wording which pertains to cooperation.
"That no officer of the Los Angeles Police Department shall cooperate with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to: inquire into the immigration status of an individual, EXCEPT AND Unless (underlined in the text) required by city, county, state or federal law to inquire into the immigration status of an individual seeking LAPD employment."
Mexico isn't hiding anything. They've already come out and said they're 'integrating' with the US. The only question left is, why won't the US govt. be up front with the American public about this...well, they know we won't like it, so we're getting the frog in water treatment. Little by little our sovereignty is being chipped away until it de facto no longer exists. Then we'll be told, 'Who knew! Well, we have to deal with reality.'
The alternative is invading Mexico and fixing it -- again. Americans won't like that, either. And south of Mexico is a great deal more of the same...countries where no person of sense would want to live, where corruption and violence is rife, so they're headed north. The question of why the borders aren't fortified seems to be a cozy arrangement with Fox, and if San Diego or San Francisco is attacked by Al Qaeda, we'll be told no terrorists came over the border. They'll be 'homegrown or students whose visas had expired'. This is like that old con game, with the three walnut shells moved around so fast the sucker doesn't stand a chance. (We're the suckers.)
And soon they'll be demanding the vote. Well, they already vote illegally, but there will be a bill to that effect in congress before long. The CFR's dreams come true.
I referred to San Diego, not Los Angeles. Los Angeles, County and City, are, unfortunately, supposed "sanctuary" demarcations. I don't know about San Diego, is my point.
They ALWAYS increase the "demands." It's what illegal aliens do: rationalize the illegality and ramp up the illegality insults by ever increasing the margin of imposition.
Tnx - and I only pointed out 'Special Order 40' due to it being a formal directive in California which is also an informal precedent and guideline for the rest of that state.
What risk? They charge them higher rates and if they are deported who gets the house? The bank. They can then sell it.
These cursed card s are on of the most visible signs of our stinko leaders in DC devaluing US sovereignty in favor of the almighty dollars they get from campaign contributors
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