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Posted on 07/11/2003 8:25:06 AM PDT by Brian S
(KRT) The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees voiced "increasing concern" Thursday about rising U.S. acceptance of a Mexican consular ID card that is helpful mainly to illegal immigrants who lack legitimate U.S. identification.
Citing the FBI's view that the matricula consular is vulnerable to fraud and open to misuse by terrorists and criminals, the lawmakers asked Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to consider those concerns as the federal government weighs its policy toward the document.
"Despite the widespread acceptance of these cards … it appears that they are neither reliable nor secure," the Republicans said in a letter to Ridge, calling the documents "a threat to homeland security."
The Department of Homeland Security recently was put in charge of the interagency task force debating whether to accept foreign consular ID cards. The task force, which has been meeting for months, as yet has been unable to smooth policy differences between the State, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security departments.
"The interagency task force still continues to work to determine if this is going to be a viable, acceptable document," Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Thursday.
He declined comment on the letter, signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; Homeland Security Chairman Chris Cox, R-Calif.; Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., who chairs the homeland security appropriations subcommittee; and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, chairman of a Judiciary subcommittee.
The lawmakers' letter and the FBI opposition, stated at a recent House immigration subcommittee hearing, mark two rare setbacks to Mexico's campaign for wider acceptance of the matricula.
Thirteen states, more than 80 cities and 900 police departments now accept the matricula.
Advocates say the cards help immigrants access basic functions of daily life such as obtaining driver's licenses and opening bank accounts. They also note that the card serves a law enforcement purpose, allowing police to identify people who otherwise might travel without identification.
Critics, however, say the card abets illegal immigration and undermines enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
More than 1.4 million cards have been issued since 2002 and Mexican government officials insist the ID is secure and fraud-resistant. Officials say the card allows them to keep track of the 9 million Mexicans who live here, about half of them illegally.
The FBI last month became the first federal agency to publicly state a position on the matricula, expressing concern that the card is not secure in part because the Mexican government does not have a centralized database of applicants. Without such a database, there is no way of assuring that multiple cards aren't issued to the same person, said Steve McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence.
Mexican officials say they are working to establish a database and are taking other steps to make the card more secure. The Mexican Embassy did not return a call Thursday regarding the lawmakers' views.
In the letter, the four House members expressed particular misgivings about the Treasury Department's decision to permit financial institutions to use foreign consular cards as proof of identification.
The Treasury decision "appears to subvert" sections in the USA Patriot Act designed "to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to open bank accounts," they wrote, asking the Department of Homeland Security to take a position on the matter.
The Treasury Department had not seen the letter. But spokesman Taylor Griffin said, "The administration implements all laws with the intent of Congress fully in mind."
The Patriot Act regulations "were designed to allow financial institutions enough flexibility to implement the rules effectively while holding those institutions responsible for the success of their customer identification program," he said.
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Congress can stop it. Bush can stop it. But they don't. They not only allow this invasion, they encourage it. I will not vote for any politician who refuses to protect our borders as the Constitution MANDATES. Bush is going to lose alot of votes and I won't cry if he's not re-elected. Any candidate who doesn't honor his oath to the Constitution isn't worth voting for.
Advocates say the cards help immigrants access basic functions of daily life such as obtaining driver's licenses and opening bank accounts. They also note that the card serves a law enforcement purpose, allowing police to identify people who otherwise might travel without identification.
Well, if this is the case, the Republic of Panama should demand equal treatment as well as other countries that required their citizens to carry a type of metricula. In Panama, it goes by a different name (cédula), but it’s the same thing. By law, every Panamanian citizen 18 and over must carry this ID on his/her person which includes a photo, blood type, fingerprint, and one’s national ID number which is equivalent to the U.S. social security number. One needs it to transact any and all kinds of businesses here such as banking, cashing checks, applying for utilities, telephones, purchasing property, applying for a driver’s license, voting, and much, much more. Also, the cédula must accompany a credit card transaction. Why just the Mexicans?
This is a White House charade.
The purpose of the Mexican matricula consular cards is to ID Illegals, and President Bush can not help but be aware of the fact that more than a million of them have been issued. Yet he has yet to speak against them. The President's silence can only only be interpreted as tacit support of giving IDs to Illegals.
But if the Mexican IDs for Illegals are no good (and heck, they're only for Mexican Illegals anyway), what's the solution?
Answer: give American IDs to the Illegal Aliens.
This whole story is a dog and pony act to justify the Amensty that's coming soon from President Bush.
Probably. Don't forget, one of Tom Ridges' highest priorities after 9/11 was to assure that hazardous NAFTA Trucks weren't impeded from accessing U.S. Highways by something so artificial, antiquated and inefficient as a national border.
This is the only conclusion I can reach as well. My question is, what possible benefit does this provide for Bush and the GOP? The net result will be millions of additional Democrat votes.
Ther is a section for "comments" in which I stated that I expected the President to address the border issue before I could fully support him.
If you don't vote, or vote for a fringe candidate, that only costs one vote. If you get really, really angry and vote for the opposition, that means they'll have to get two votes to compensate.
That's the only threat that will stop this nonsense. It seems like the administration thinks it can win without those who support minimal government, the borders, an end to illegals given a free ride, jobs being lost by citizens, a cut in spending and programs, and the PBA ammendment. If some Democrat picks up on any of these issues, probably two or three of them, it should garner a lot of those stay-at-home votes. Don't forget, we can bring some Dem candidate(s) on board, as there isn't a meaningful Republican primary.
Yep. Makes me sleep better at night knowing the likes of Tom Ridge heads up our nations security agencies.
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