Posted on 03/08/2002 9:04:15 PM PST by Buffalo Bob
An identity card routinely issued by the Mexican Consulate to citizens living in Houston will be considered official identification by Houston police officers.
"Houston police officers are encountering these people on a daily basis -- whether it is as a witness, whether it is as a victim or in some cases as a suspect," Police Chief C.O. Bradford said this week. "I welcome this card as a proof of identification."
More than 130,000 Mexicans living in the Houston area have been issued the document, called a "matricular card." The cards are similar to those often issued by U.S. diplomatic officials to Americans living overseas.
Houston is the first major city in the nation to acknowledge the matricular card as a legitimate proof of identity, said Enrique Buj-Flores, the Mexican consul general in Houston.
"It allows the Houston Police Department to know that these are Mexican nationals and that they have been recognized by the Mexican state through its consular representation," Buj-Flores said.
Because their immigration status may be in question, some Mexican citizens have no valid U.S. forms of identification, such as a driver's license.
"These are not vagrants. They are not loitering. They are hard-working citizens," Buj-Flores said.
Bradford said the document, however, doesn't grant the bearer any diplomatic privilege or is it a "get-out-of-jail-free card."
"It does not exempt anyone as far as them being held responsible for a crime," Bradford said. "It does assist us in determining the proper identity of many of the individuals that Houston police officers come into contact with on a day-to-day basis."
Several area banks also have signed up with the program, Buj-Flores said, and will allow Mexican citizens to open checking accounts using the matricular card as identification.
State Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr., D-Houston, called the decision by city officials and area banks to recognize the matricular card a step in the right direction.
"It is an innovative way for the business community to interact with the Mexican nationals who are here," Gallegos said. "That's a pool out there that hasn't been tapped. They have money and they are willing to spend it and put it in the bank."
Police officials are betting that a more widespread recognition of the matricular card will help cut down on crime. Bradford said almost half of all robbery victims in the Houston area speak Spanish.
Although some victims may fear coming forward because of their legal status in the United States, Bradford said his officers do not work for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"We do not get involved in citizenship status checks," he said.
Buj-Flores said officers will not share information with U.S. officials. "The data bank is confidential. It is something that the Mexican national voluntarily gives to the consulate," he said.
Remove the big cities from the Texas equation, and you get your tough guys back in charge. But, big cities rule the day any more.
That's the most appropriate word to use in these discussions. Thanks for the ping.
I think Bush softened them up into cream puffs in his years as Governor...just like what he is doing to the U.S. at large now.
No, they are criminals. Just yesterday, I read an article in the very same paper about somebody named Luis Flores-Garcia (or something like that) who killed an innocent motorist as he was fleeing from police at high speeds in a car he had stolen. He kept ramming the vehicle with his stolen truck "until it was out of his way" and killed the guy in the passenger seat.
This is really not a new practice. Phoenix police have been accepting these since 1998.
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