Posted on 08/12/2002 2:38:29 PM PDT by mykdsmom
RALEIGH - Gilberto Cerron, like dozens who line up at the Mexican Consulate each weekday, came to buy a red-hot item: the matricula consular, a card that makes it easier for Mexican nationals to open bank accounts, get driver's licenses and seek social services.
"I had heard of it before, but I didn't know how important it was," said Cerron, 34, a Mexican immigrant who lives in Reidsville.
Word has spread among Mexican immigrants of how useful the card can be.
In the first six months of this year, the Raleigh consulate issued 7,813 matriculas, nearly four times as many as during the first six months of 2001. About three-quarters of the people who crowd the consulate each weekday are there to get the card. Nationally, Mexican consulates issued nearly 500,000 in the first half of this year.
The card's profile is also rising as more local governments, police departments and banks accept it as an official ID. Carrboro aldermen unanimously voted to do so in June, joining cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston.
The card helps undocumented immigrants in particular because they are unlikely to have another photo ID with a U.S. address, Carrboro Alderman John Herrera said.
Carrboro's resolution will make it easier for Mexicans living in Carrboro to get residents' discounts for parks programs and will help police verify the identity of Mexicans who report crimes or are suspects, he said.
In June, state Sen. Daniel Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, introduced a bill that would encourage law enforcement and other government agencies in North Carolina to accept the matricula as identification and would allocate $25,000 to educate agencies about the card. The bill is in committee.
"It doesn't grant legal residency. It doesn't confer rights or benefits," Clodfelter said. "It's just a good, useful identification document."
It has been especially important for immigrants to have photo IDs since Sept. 11, said Carolina Zaragoza Flores, the Mexican consul in Raleigh.
"In this time of increased security, this will show the authorities that the person holding this document is who he says he is," Zaragoza said.
But not everyone thinks the card is a good idea.
The Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates greater restrictions on immigration, criticizes the Mexican government for issuing the card and local governments and banks in the United States for accepting them.
"Really, the whole purpose of this card is to circumvent U.S. immigration law," said Steven Camarota, the center's research director.
"It sort of institutionalizes illegality and conveys that we are just not serious about our laws."
Some major banks don't agree.
Durham-based Central Carolina Bank began accepting the matricula at all of its 263 branches in the Carolinas in May, and Charlotte-based Bank of America began taking it nationwide in June.
"This is a way for an underbanked, underserved population to access our services and to learn to trust us," said Gillian Breidenbach, a Bank of America spokeswoman. Many immigrants have never had a bank account and keep their money at home, she said.
"I've heard of people who have been assaulted after leaving work with a lot of money," said Cerron, who tried to open a bank account four months ago but didn't have a North Carolina ID. "It's less risky having money in a bank."
Cerron, who works in a clothing factory, also wants to use his matricula to get a driver's license and car insurance.
The state Division of Motor Vehicles likes the card because it proves the holder lives in North Carolina, said Wayne Hurder, DMV's director of driver's license certification. And, because foreign nationals must pass a driving test, making it easier for Mexicans to get a license makes the state's roads safer, he said.
The matricula is white and gray and looks something like a driver's license. It includes the person's photo, local address and date and place of birth. Later this month, the Raleigh consulate will begin issuing Mexico's new, green version that is more difficult to forge.
The Mexican government requires matricula applicants to provide an original birth certificate and a copy, a Mexican or U.S. photo ID and a document -- such as a utility bill --with a local address.
The matricula is accepted just like a passport by Mexican border authorities when immigrants return home. That was why an early version of the card was introduced nearly a century ago, said Mireya Magana, spokeswoman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. Many undocumented immigrants do not have passports.
Even those with passports can benefit from the card because, unlike a passport, it contains a local address that banks and other institutions require, and it's more convenient to carry.
Other Latin American governments have noticed the card's popularity among Mexicans. Guatemala approved a similar ID in June and plans to begin issuing it at its consulates Thursday, said Ana Villacorta, spokeswoman for the Guatemalan Embassy. The closest Guatemalan Consulate to Raleigh is in Washington.
Honduras and El Salvador also are considering issuing similar cards, officials with those two countries' embassies said.
El Salvador began looking into the idea two years ago, said Rene Leon, the country's ambassador in Washington. But it put off plans for the card after the U.S. government made most Salvadorans in the United States eligible for "temporary protected status" -- allowing them to stay in the United States -- after their homeland was devastated by earthquakes in 2001. The status was recently extended until September 2003.
And, Leon said, because many of those who would benefit from a matricula are undocumented, and about 95 percent of Salvadorans in the United States are here legally, the need to issue a Salvadoran version is not as urgent.
MKM
MKM
Hi, my name is Marsol, and I'm an immigration-aholic.
These folks need a twelve thousand step program.
Each step should be closer to Mexico, and should
continue until they get there and cross the border!
Geez, talk about party crashers. I think I'll have the US embassy in Guatamala draw up a deed showing that I own the entire stinking country.
Wait, wait I know this one..........one is the "new, politically correct term" and the other isn't?
MKM
Sounds like get one of these card and you can pass go, jump on the gravy train and live like an American without the drawback of bills and taxes. Great life if you can get it.
Why does Dick Gephardt campaign to La Raza on an amnesty platform when there's a de facto amnesty happening in America every single day?
The card should also help police identify illegals & prompt the police to call the INS.
In June, state Sen. Daniel Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, introduced a bill that would encourage law enforcement and other government agencies in North Carolina to accept the matricula as identification and would allocate $25,000 to educate agencies about the card. The bill is in committee.
It is disgusting that the people who taxpayers are paying to make and enforce laws are doing just the opposite. Where can we sue?
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