Mexican ID opens doors for undocumented workers in U.S.

The Mexican government has had major success in the last year lobbying U.S. banks, police departments and city halls to accept a Mexican-issued identification card that is opening new doors for its citizens living here, particularly those doing so illegally.

But Mexico's campaign for widespread acceptance of the matricula consular, as the document is known, has encountered turbulence recently amid criticism that the card abets illegal immigration and poses a national security risk.

The ID card's use has been rejected by New York state and New York City for security reasons. A pilot program by the federal government to accept the card at the federal building in San Francisco was suspended last month under political pressure. And bills that would mandate the use of only American-issued ID cards have been introduced on Capitol Hill, in Arizona and elsewhere.

"Probably about a month ago, things started to turn around," said Rosemary Jenks of Numbers USA, an anti-matricula group.

Matricula supporters tick off their own statistics when asked whether there's a growing backlash against the card: 13 states accept it in issuing driver's licenses; 800 police departments; and more than 80 cities, among them Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth.

The ID card, or matricula, for Mexican citizens in the United States, can help holders get driver's licenses and bank accounts. The critics "are making a mountain out of a molehill," said Michele Waslin, an immigration policy expert with the National Council of La Raza, which favors the ID. "They are trying to paint the matricula as something it's not. ... It's not the Mexican government trying to give amnesty to any of their residents in the United States. It's just an identification card."

That's hardly the view expressed by members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, who say Mexico is trying to achieve in incremental steps a sweeping legalization that was placed on the back burner after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"And, if by identifying our compatriots ("compatriots? Is that the new euphemism for illegal aliens?") abroad we can also help them open bank accounts in the United States and ease their travel back to Mexico, then we're happy with the added bonus," said Roberto Rodríguez, the Mexican Foreign Relations Ministry's chief of consular affairs...

"For the life of me I have no clue how a matricula card can expedite the legal process toward legalization," he said. "One thing you can't fault these groups [fighting the matricula] for is a lack of wild imagination."

Still, Mexico has made the card a high priority since legalization talks were shelved, deciding under then-Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda to target incremental advances that improve the daily lives of its citizens abroad – and don't require the approval of Congress or the White House.

Mexico's 47 U.S. consulates have launched a stepped-up registration campaign in recent months, setting up booths in churches and local halls and dispatching mobile units to immigrant-rich communities. The consuls have met with banks, local leaders and law enforcement agencies to promote the card, sparking complaints that the lobbying defies diplomatic protocol and impinges on U.S. sovereignty.

"It is not a friendly act for another country to facilitate illegal immigration into the United States," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. Mr. Rodríguez dismissed the criticism as "ridiculous, short-sighted and in line with the traditional anti-immigrant rhetoric that we have heard for years." (when all else fails, call your opponents "anti-immigrant" and by extension racist xenophobes rather than, say, opposed to a foreign government enabling illegal immigration.)

It even serves a crime-deterrent function. Many who had lacked the required ID cards to open bank accounts are doing so now with the matricula, and consequently don't have to walk around with as much cash...

But opponents say that while the matricula itself bears fraud-resistant features, Mexico cannot guarantee the integrity of the program because the $29 cards are issued on the spot by consular officials who give only visual inspection to the birth certificate, Mexican voter card or other documents required to apply.

If the underlying paperwork is fake, the consular staff has no way of knowing because the applicant is not checked against a computerized database in Mexico City, said Marti Dinerstein, president of Immigration Matters, a New York-based group opposed to matriculas, and author of a paper critical of matricula security.

The cards "are not foolproof," Mr. Tancredo said, citing reports that the Border Patrol had apprehended immigrants carrying several matriculas, all bearing the holder's photo, but with different names and addresses.

The administration has convened a working group – involving the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State, Treasury and other agencies – to examine whether the card should be accepted by federal officials...

Thus far, it appears there is little consensus. "There are a variety of different views," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

While the Department of Homeland Security's new border chief has voiced concerns about the card, the Treasury Department has tacitly given banks the green light to accept it.

Already, 75 to 80 of the nation's 9,000 banks – including giants such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Bank One – are accepting the matricula, viewing it as a way of reaching out to a Latino market that is doubly enticing.

Critics charge that the banks are tossing aside U.S. national security concerns in a rush for profits. "We have to be very careful that our own citizens ... are not simply enticed into trying to find ways around the law simply because it may be monetarily rewarding," said Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., a member of the House Immigration Reform Caucus.

Mr. Ballentine noted that the Treasury Department had unofficially given banks permission to use the card.

Issue all these they want. When they are presented to get a driver's license or open a bank account arrest them and ship them home. Here in Ohio these are not accepted by the driver's license bureau and you can't buy a car unless you have a SS#, Green card or Visa. Let's hope it stays that way.

Doesn't this card tell me unequivically that the person handing it to me in the US is an illegal alien who does not have the right to live and work here?

While I can't ask a foreign sounding/looking person about his nationality/origin, doesn't he give me all those answers when he pulls out this card?

What authorities do I alert to apprehend this criminal in our midst? INS? Local police? FBI? Homeland security?

I was told today that two of my colleagues, in separate events, were in serious accidents where they were not badly injured but their cars were totaled. In both cases, the other driver was an uninsured person of Hispanic background (illegal Mexican alien). Fortunately, both colleagues have uninsured motorist coverge, the insurance that most Texans buy to cover the possible damage done by those who violate the law by driving without insurance.

When are we going to take the risk of all these criminals coming into our country with the seriousness is deserves?

What authorities do I alert to apprehend this criminal in our midst? INS?

yea, the INS, fersuuuuure. The Incompetent Nitwits of the State. They'd be the LAST one on your list I'd ever contact about ILLEGAL immigration.

If you are a US employer you still need the United States Government issued documentation.

The mexican ID is nothing more than a tool to assist in illegal activity. Are not US bank liable for any assitance they give to illegal activity? Is not banking money from illegal activity illegal? YES!!! Today the mexican ID tomorrow they propose joint ownership of California.

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