CRITICS SLAM MEXICAN ID CARD

GWB's silent amnesty.

bump

I didn't know this was a done deal. Is anyone sure about this article? I can't believe it.

GSA Bars Mexican ID Cards

Mexican ID card ignites controversy in U.S.

Reuters
By Pablo Bachelet
January 28, 2003
Source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Immigration opponents Tuesday blasted a popular Mexican ID card as unsafe and threatened legal action against banks and other public institutions that accepted the document as proof of identity.

Immigration opponents charged at a news conference that the card was a backhanded way for Mexico to secure quasi-legal status for the 3 million to 5 million immigrants illegally residing in the United States.

The so-called Matricula Consular, a wallet-sized ID card, is increasingly accepted in the United States by everything from hospitals to banks.

Marti Dinerstein, president of Immigration Matters, a public policy analysis firm in New York and a fellow at the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, called the card an "audacious political maneuver" by Mexico.

"Not only does it subvert U.S. immigration law, it is not even a secure identity document," she charged.

She cited the arrest of a man in Denver who had three Matricula Consulares IDs under different names as proof that security can easily be breached.

Although Mexico has been issuing Matriculas Consulares in the United States for more than 100 years, it introduced a tamper-proof version in March 2002 and consular officials launched an aggressive campaign for the card's acceptance.

Mexican officials say they are working to make the Matricula even safer.

"New technology will allow us to establish a database that will connect all the consulates with our capital," said Roberto Rodriguez, the general director for consular services, in a phone interview with Reuters.

The card is accepted by 74 banks to open accounts and by 800 law enforcement agencies, which skip background checks for card holders. And 13 states accept it to issue driver's licenses, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

Acceptance by banks is crucial because immigrants can save millions by using banks instead of costly wire transfer companies. Banks could also gain a portion of the $9.3 billion that Mexicans sent back to Mexico in 2001.

The card has been at the heart of a growing controversy between Mexican officials and immigration opponents.

Mexico has been pushing for a broad immigration agreement with the United States, but the Bush administration put the issue on the back burner after the Sept. 11 attacks.

While Mexico has the legal right to issue the Matricula, Craig Nelson, director of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement, wants to make U.S. institutions more accountable for accepting the ID.

Those that accept the ID could be risking lawsuits if the bearer of the card goes on to commit an illegal act, he said.

"Accepting the card would expose either banks or public entities to civil liabilities," he said.

It's not igniting NEAR enough controversy for my tastes.

Right it's an amnesty via stealth.

The only good news is Mexico soon will be inflicting it's unwanted on Canada too.

Fox sees more Mexicans moving to Canada ^
			Posted by albertabound On 01/28/2003 3:50 PM EST 2003 National Post \| Monday, January 27, 2003 \| Diane Francis Fox sees more Mexicans moving to Canada Diane Francis Financial Post Monday, January 27, 2003 Mexico's President Vicente Fox hopes that as many as 125,000 Mexicans each year will be able to immigrate to Canada in future, or half of Ottawa's annual immigration target. "Mexico would gladly like to supply Canada with up to half of that [250,000 annual target]. Very gladly," he said in an exclusive interview with the Financial Post during his attendance at the World Economic Forum. "I was not aware that Canada is bringing in that many immigrants a year. I will take the immigration issue...

WELLS FARGO allows illegal Mexicans to use this card to open accounts at Wells Fargo Banks.

Interestingly, our son's girlfriend [a US CITIZEN from birth] moved to the area. She went into Wells Fargo to open a savings and checking acct. They would not open the account for her because she did not have a credit card. She has her TX driver's license, she has her social security card, she has her college ID but they would not open it unless she had a credit card. And, SHE IS A CITIZEN!

When she told us we called Wells Fargo and inquired about opening an acct. We were told the same thing. I asked them why if we had a TX DL, SSN Card they would not open an account. They merely replied that is there policy.

I guess we need to apply for a Mexican ID.

Yep.

From the Office of
Congressman Tom Tancredo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 23, 2003

Contact: Lara Kennedy
(202) 225-6270

Tancredo, House Colleagues Urge Powell to Take Immediate Action Against Matricula Consular I.D.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, and several House colleagues urged U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in a letter dated January, 10, 2003 to take immediate action against the Mexican Consular offices’ issuance of the Matricula Consular. Official co-signers of the letter include Representatives Todd Akin (R-MO), Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK). Original text of the letter follows:

Secretary Colin L. Powell

United States Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Powell:

We wish to bring to your attention a situation we find alarming and one we hope you will take immediate steps to correct.

The governments of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have increased their efforts to provide identification cards to their nationals living illegally in the United States. Concurrent with this activity, Mexican Consular offices have undertaken a massive lobbying effort to persuade local authorities to accept this documentation for identification purposes.

While all governments have a responsibility to look after their citizens residing abroad, they have no right to actively pursue policies that seek to undermine local laws nor should they use their Consular officials as lobbyists for such an agenda.

While the issuance of national identification cards is nothing new, providing them with the express purpose of evading the U.S. law is something else entirely. And the active lobbying of local and state governments by Consuls of foreign countries is, at least, a breach of international protocol deserving of a serious response by our government.

Mr. Secretary, this is an issue of enormous significance that has massive implications for the nation. If the Administration has agreed to allow this activity, the American people have a right to know. If it has not, please advise us of the steps being taken to halt it.

Thank you for your ongoing service to our great nation, and thank you for your timely response.

Sincerely,

Tom Tancredo

Member of Congress

###

Based on what you've stated, these words should ring loud and clear to you; sigh...

"America has turned its back on Americans. Even illegal aliens count higher with the American government than native-born, taxpaying, loyal U.S. citizens, who are regarded by their government as nothing but resources to be exploited."

Bttt

IDs for Illegals Mexico's 'Matricula Consular' Facilitates Illegal Immigration

THE REPORT

Illegal-immigration foes, lawmakers fight official use of Mexican ID cards

Report criticizes Mexico's motives for backing their use by illegal immigrants in the United States.

The Orange County Register
By MINERVA CANTO
Tuesday, January 28, 2003

U.S. lawmakers and advocates of stricter immigration enforcement want to make it illegal for government agencies to accept the Mexican ID card, a document that has allowed thousands of illegal immigrants gain access to banking and other mainstream activities.

A report to be released today criticizes the Mexican government for promoting the card, saying, "Mexico decided to try to turn the matricula consular into a vehicle to achieve quasi-legal status for its undocumented population."

The report, by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates stronger curbs on immigration, says the card lacks the full security measures promised by Mexican officials.

The report comes a day before legislators, including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, planned to unveil a bill that would make it illegal for U.S. government entities to accept the card. It is now used by more than a million Mexicans and has gained the support of hundreds of law enforcement agencies and dozens of banks.

The card already is under scrutiny by federal authorities. Just two weeks ago, the General Services Administration suspended a pilot program that would have allowed foreign consular cards to be used for admittance to some federal facilities, including a federal courthouse in San Francisco. The suspension was made public Jan. 10, three days after Rohrabacher and 11 other legislators wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell pressing for action against the card.

The GSA will reconsider its position once a government task force guarantees "the integrity of information contained in such cards and security of the document itself," a statement said.

Luis Miguel Ortiz-Haro, Mexican consul in Santa Ana, said he welcomed a probe.

"I'm certain the agency will certify the security of the card. We're not worried at all. As a matter of fact, the outcome of such an investigation will serve as a sort of seal of approval," said Ortiz-Haro, who serves the fourth-largest Mexican immigrant community in the United States.

Orange County police chiefs were among the first law enforcement officials to accept the card in November 2001, around the same time Wells Fargo and other large banks announced that it could be used to open an account. In 2002, more than 1 million Mexicans in the United States obtained the card, originally created in 1870 to help local consulates keep in touch with the communities they serve.

Today, the card is accepted by 74 banks, 800 law enforcement agencies and 13 states, which allow it to be used to obtain driver's licenses, according to the report by the Center for Immigration Studies.

Ramiro Gonzales of Fullerton obtained his ID card last year so he could open a bank account, but says he hasn't found it useful for much else.

"It has been much easier having a bank account and I am grateful for that, but I still lack the documents to get a job," said Gonzales, who has been working in construction since he arrived from Veracruz seven years ago.

Newport Beach Police Chief Bob McDonnell said his agency has not had any problems with the card, which officers have found useful for, among other things, getting in contact with witnesses.

McDonnell, president of the California Police Officers Association, also said he believes Mexican officials are taking appropriate steps to ensure the document's security.

"The first round of presentations by the consul in Orange County left a little something to be desired," McDonnell said. "We talked about the ability to counterfeit and they went back and made some significant changes to the card."

But Bernard Carroll of Anaheim is not so sure. Carroll, a longtime Orange County resident who is concerned about illegal immigration, thinks the scrutiny of the card is overdue.

"That card is not backed up by the verified data," he said. "In other words, you can go out into the streets and buy birth certificates and other documents needed to get that card."

Although Mexico last year updated the card with high- tech security features, report author Marti Dinerstein wrote that she found Mexican government officials are not yet cross-checking applications against computerized data banks in Mexico. She also said the system does not prevent someone from obtaining multiple ID cards under different names or even a non-Mexican from posing as a Mexican citizen.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, says the report shows that Mexico has won a "de facto amnesty" for illegal immigrants.

But Dinerstein does not go as far as making any recommendations.

"There's not an easy answer. It's a very complex story actually and involves a lot of players," she said in an interview. "There's a lot going on in the background that not a lot of people know. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. It's too difficult to say whether it should be accepted or it shouldn't be accepted."

Still, a group of Republican lawmakers are troubled enough to band together against it. One of them, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, is drafting a measure that would ban its use as identification by government entities, said Tancredo spokeswoman Lara Kennedy.

Rohrabacher said he would need to look at the details of the final draft but supports such a ban.

"The card is designed to help people who are in this country illegally and we should be doing nothing to help those people," he said.

Colorado is considering similar legislation and others are seeking to curb use of the card, which got the thumbs down from New York city and state officials in December.

I agree.

Citing Security, New York Rejects Mexican ID Cards

Federal facility accepts Mexican ID at Pelosi's request

"It's bad enough that we've got the spread of these sham Mexican ID cards, the matricular consular cards, but this is 10 times worse – to have officials of a foreign government masquerading as our own federal agents."

Good phrase, sums it up exactly.

Bttt

U.S. Social Security for Mexicans - Phyllis Schlafly
"As soon as George W. Bush was elected president, Fox started pressuring him to legitimize the status of some 10 million illegal aliens who are in the United States, plus give amnesty to many illegals by reviving a loophole in an immigration law called 245(i). Those plans were sailing briskly until Sept. 11, the day that the American people woke up to the dangers of open borders, and Fox was forced to move to an incrementalist strategy.

Mexican consulates in the United States started issuing an identification card, called matricula consular, to Mexicans illegally living in our country. By definition, this card should prove that the holder is in the United States illegally, but it began to be accepted by police, banks and even driver's license offices in some states as though it were a valid ID."

Mexico for Continental Integration
"Jorge Casteñeda, Mexico’s Marxist foreign minister, told Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham that "Mexico wants its North American neighbors to move more quickly towards integration on a continental scale,"..."We would like to continentalize as much as possible," remarked Casteñeda. "We have been pushing for this. And we have been encountering a receptive ear both in Canada and the United States at a certain level of intensity. We would like to move more quickly. We would like to move more deeply."...Mexico’s continental agenda is behind some interesting actions undertaken by Mexican consular officials in the United States. The March 8th Houston Chronicle reported: "An identity card routinely issued by the Mexican Consulate to citizens living in Houston will be considered official identification by Houston police officers." Houston is the first U.S. city to recognize the validity of the document, called a "matricular card."

George W. - Master of Disguise

INS starts campaign to legalize 200,000 immigrants

The Palm Beach Post had an editorial claiming that MC cards are a "boost for security." More on this thread. Maybe you can write and let them know what you think.

bttt......