"We really don't have the ability to enforce immigration laws."
Posted on 07/02/2007 8:57:38 AM PDT by satan
Mexicans get documents (Manassas Journal Messenger)
Men, women and children; mothers, fathers and married couples - all Mexican citizens - received official Mexican documents Saturday at the first Mexican Embassy-sponsored event in Manassas in five years.
About 700 Mexican citizens received passports and consulate ID cards Saturday at the Manassas campus of Northern Virginia Community College.
Manassas is back on the embassy's map, according to Consul Enrique Escorza, who said the growing number of Mexican citizens in the area
justified their hosting a day where Mexicans could access embassy resources which are normally available in the District.
In the wake of the U.S. Senate's rejection of a bill that would have provided the country a guest worker program and amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants, now is as important a time as ever for aliens to carry official identification, said Escorza.
Esther Ambriz, who lives in Dumfries, said she was applying for a passport to travel from Virginia to Michoacan, Mexico, where she is from.
"If something happened out there, it a lot harder to travel at the last minute [without a passport]," she said.
"A lot of these people don't have any ID. They have a long time here in the U.S. and they travel. A lot of people need a passport to open an account at the bank," Ambriz said.
And opening a bank account is crucial for Hispanic workers, who could be targeted if they carry large amounts of cash, Escorza said.
"Instead of me having all the cash that I made this month in my pockets," he said, having an ID card helps to open a bank account.
One man from Leesburg, who declined to give his name, said he was applying for a passport so he could open a bank account.
The man, from Jalisco, Mexico, waited in line Saturday with his wife and children.
Escorza said that only Mexican citizens without criminal records can obtain a passport or identification card.
"To the community this is of great value. These people have the means to prove who they are," Escorza said. "The community can have peace of mind that this confirms they do not have criminal backgrounds."
He said in order to receive a Mexican passport or a consulate ID card, a Mexican citizen must submit a birth certificate, at least one form of ID, and proof of their address in the U.S.
Once those documents are accepted, applicants must also submit biometric data:
fingerprints, photos and electronic signatures.
Data submitted in the applications is compared to an international database on criminals and suspected terrorists, Escorza said.
If their name is already flagged for having a criminal background in Mexico or because the person is a suspected terrorist, that person would not receive documents from the consulate, he said.
Once a person was confirmed for a passport or a consulate ID card, the documents were created on the spot at NVCC.
Escorza said the documents, especially the consulate ID card, are nearly impossible to counterfeit.
With 17 security features, including coded photographs and holograms, authorities can easily check for counterfeits using a plastic pocket decoder issued by the Mexican government.
"In a way it looks simple, but it's a very sophisticated card," Escorza said.
On the back of the card is a bi-dimensional bar code that includes the biometric data.
He said that because so many people responded to the Manassas event on Saturday, the Mexican Embassy would likely hold another passport and consulate ID event there next year.
"To feel the support of the community college is of tremendous value," Escorza said. "They are kind enough to allow us to use the room and the Internet access. I have no words but gratitude to them."
The consulate will offer another opportunity to obtain Mexican passports and consulate IDs in Richmond on July 14 and 15 at Ramsey Memorial United Methodist Church.
And US citizens in Mexico are allowed what, exactly?
“And US citizens in Mexico are allowed what, exactly?”
NOTHING!!!!
The irony of this article is that the Northern Va. Comm. College's campus in Manassas is adjacent to the hallowed ground that is the Manassas Battlefield.
NADA!
for later
Exactly. Any govt can issue any ID they want. It’s up to US institutions to decide of what utility they should be within our jurisdiction.
That was my interpretation also. Let the Mexicans clearly identify themselves as Mexicans, obey the laws about being here, and have the American government enforce the border and the laws on the books. There’s nothing wrong with the Mexican consulate trying to provide normal consulate services to people as conveniently as possible.
Americans in Mexico can also access the US consulate there and get any documentation they need, but they cannot falsely identify themselves as Mexicans.
Once the laws are being enforced as they exist on the books, we can talk about improving them if necessary.
>>In the wake of the U.S. Senate’s rejection of a bill that would have provided the country a guest worker program and amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants, now is as important a time as ever for aliens to carry official identification, said [Consul Enrique] Escorza.<<
The man speaks the truth: It would have been AMNESTY!
I hope that President Bush is listening to what his “friends” to the South are saying.
Cool. Let the ICE agents check them on their way out of the mex cons/emb. If they are here illegally, then we will know exactly who we are deporting.
I have a friend in Mexico, she is a mexican citizen and a schoolteacher, and it took her forever to get a Mexican passport. I remember her complaining about having to make two separate trips to Mexico City and jump through all kinds of hoops for months to get one.
She needed it to travel in Europe and barely got it in time.
Yes, they're called embassies and consulates. We have them in most countries and most countries have them here. I think in most cases it is the other country's budget that pays for the operation of its consulates and embassies, so I doubt your tax dollars are paying for this unless you've been working and paying taxes in Mexico. This is nothing new and nothing nefarious. The knee-jerk reaction around here that everything remotely Mexican is evil gives the amnesty proponents ammunition for labeling opponents of amnesty as racists.
ping
Isn't it wonderful that we donate public property to the use of a foreign government so that they can pursue their seditionist agenda?
Gosh, whatta country.
I always wondered where my passport supposedly stolen from a diplomatic pack ended up.
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