Posted on 07/21/2003 9:08:44 PM PDT by new cruelty
Edited on 05/07/2004 5:43:36 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON -- A popular identification card issued by the Mexican government to its citizens living abroad is under attack in Congress, where a vocal group of Republican lawmakers wants it banned as an acceptable form of identification.
The Bush administration is taking notice. Top federal officials at several agencies are developing a policy for recognizing such cards, and the Treasury Department announced this month that it is reviewing rules for banks on what foreign documents are acceptable to verify a customer
(Excerpt) Read more at thedesertsun.com ...
Mexican ID card is not a big threat
Politicians like to extol the virtues of the "melting pot" that is America.
The melting pot is just fine with them, until one of the flavors wants to stand out.
In Congress right now, more than 100 members are calling for prohibition of an innocent ID card known as the matricula consular. Officially named the Certificado de Matricula Consular, it is issued to nationals in Mexico as an identity card. It is estimated that more than 1 million Mexican immigrants in California carry the card and use it as a form of personal identification.
Many Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, want that stopped.
A bill introduced by Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Santa Barbara, would prohibit use of identity cards of foreign origin.
It's difficult to find a valid reason why the matricula consular should be banned, other than the obvious discrimination.
The matricula is used as informal identification in a wide variety of instances, most of them private -- check-cashing, opening a bank account, proof of age and identity. It's up to the person seeking valid identification to accept it or not. No one is suggesting that the card be used in lieu of a driver's license, Social Security card, green card or any other document issued by the state or federal government. So where's the harm?
Opponents say it constitutes a threat to homeland security to have these foreign-issued ID cards around. How? Would-be terrorists would have phony green cards, passports and driver's licenses anyway. The security threat of the matricula is nonsense.
Any identification in fact assists law enforcement, as long as the identification is valid. The threat arises when the matricula is phony. But since it is being used in the United States to establish identity in the first place, how is that an issue?
True, undocumented immigrants use the matricula to get their foot in the door for legal documents here. But it's naive to think that banning the matricula would have any effect on undocumented immigrants in California. As with the case of driver's licenses, any valid identification for undocumented workers at least gives authorities a chance to keep track of them.
With the other problems related to immigration and securing the nation's borders, as well as the problems facing immigrants themselves, this issue ought to be way down the list of priorities of our lawmakers. It only reveals their fears about immigrants, and it's not a particularly attractive revelation.
This is so disingenuous. The cards in use since 1871 did not facilitate the opening of bank accounts or facilitate other quazi-citizenship type services. This card was redesigned in an effort to promote them as substitutes for legitimate papers required by the US.
The article states this very clearly with this language, "The new matriculas, issued through 47 Mexican consulates in the United States, contain the cardholder’s photograph, U.S. address and information only visible to infrared light. Applicants must present a birth certificate to obtain it. The Mexican government has persuaded scores of banks, police departments and local governments to accept the matricula as proof of identification for its citizens."
What part of "you are not legally qualified to be here", escapes these people and the Mexican govenrment? Our officials should invalidate the cards and boot the people who are here illegally.
And also require reporting of the card, name, and address to the INS by every bank and check-cashing service accepting it.
This is just another form of amnesty. I have to wonder just how "infuriated" lawmakers are when some reports say they are in favor of it, after some tweaking on their part of course.
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