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Hundreds of Mexican nationals who live in Oklahoma spent Saturday morning at Chelino’s restaurant in Bricktown, where the Mexican consulate from Little Rock, Ark., had set up a temporary office. Some were in line for passports, but most were requesting matriculas consulares, popular Mexican ID cards that are not legally recognized in Oklahoma under the state’s tough immigration law. The 650 people who showed up represent a small portion of Oklahoma’s immigrants who need the consul’s documentation services. Proving identity Andres Chao, Mexican consul in Little Rock, said many local Hispanic immigrants have trouble getting state-issued IDs, because they do...

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Mexican nationals living in the Bowling Green area will be able Saturday to apply for identification cards from their government, and apply for or renew passports. The Consulate of Mexico in Indianapolis, collaborating with the International Center of Bowling Green, will operate a mobile consulate Saturday at The Presbyterian Church, 1003 State St., beginning at 8 a.m. About 150 passports will be available, and about 550 consular identification cards, or matricula consulars, according to a joint press release from the International Center and Mexican consulate. �We are anticipating something in the neighborhood of 700 people,� said Matthew Covington, pastor of...

Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to undocumented customers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, according to the Wall Street Journal. The only requirement to get a card with the new program is to have had a BofA checking account for three months without an overdraft – those without a Social Security number or a credit history are still eligible. BofA executives said the program aims to tap into the growing market of illegal immigrants, which is largely Hispanic, and has not violated any U.S. banking or antiterrorism laws. Cards are already being offered at 51 branches...

Fox's image on 'card' protested U.S. congressman opposes Mexico's identification system05/24/2003 By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News MEXICO CITY – Officials and ordinary Mexicans were sharply critical Friday of a U.S. congressman who used President Vicente Fox's image as part of a campaign against Mexico's practice of issuing identification cards for its citizens abroad. Opponents of the cards – known as matriculas – say they contribute to illegal immigration. On Thursday in Washington, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, denounced the U.S. Treasury Department's recent decision to allow the use of matriculas by...

It looks very much like a drivers license, but it doesn't give you license to drive. It allows Mexicans to go in and out of their country, but it's not a passport. It seems like a good idea for the purpose of identifying Mexicans living abroad, but it has created a national drive to make its use illegal. The Mexican government calls it "matricula consular," but critics in the United States call it "the illegal-alien ID card."Of course, it is not an illegal-alien ID card, but that description plays very well with those fighting to block the use of the...