T. Levette Bagwell / AJC
Benjamin Osorio-Santiago, who is from Ejutla, Oaxaca, in Mexico, shows his ID card. He is at El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, one of several banks in Georgia that accept it.Posted on 07/31/2003 5:05:03 PM PDT by citizen
AJC print edition headline for this story:
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T. Levette Bagwell / AJC Benjamin Osorio-Santiago, who is from Ejutla, Oaxaca, in Mexico, shows his ID card. He is at El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, one of several banks in Georgia that accept it. |
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A U.S. Treasury Department decision to review government rules regarding an identification card issued by Mexico to its nationals overseas is threatening to exacerbate tensions between Washington and Mexico City.
The Mexican government says it stands firmly behind its matricula consular, a small plastic card that has been increasingly accepted by banks and local and state authorities across the United States -- including Georgia.
But some members of Congress recently demanded the Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury Department review the prevailing policy, which leaves it to banks to decide what documents they will accept as valid identification to do business.
U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, complained that "the cards are neither reliable nor secure."
Treasury had seemed to close the book on the subject in May after formulating regulations for financial institutions to comply with the USA Patriot Act, which were to go into effect Oct. 1. But after receiving the letter from Sensenbrenner, the department decided to seek further comments from the public. The comment period, which began July 11, ends today.
On July 15, the House approved an amendment to legislation that would allow the State Department to regulate the identification cards. The 226-198 vote split largely along party lines, with most Republicans voting for it.
Mario Chacón, deputy chief of mission of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said his government is monitoring the issue closely.
Treasury's move caught the U.S. banking industry off guard.
"In banking, this is unprecedented. I have never seen anything like this," said John Byrne, senior counsel for the American Bankers Association, the largest commercial bank trade group in the country.
The association does not tell members whether or not to accept the cards, leaving it to individual financial institutions to decide, Byrne said. But it has examined the cards and how they are issued and found the methods acceptable. "We are totally opposed to any change that would prohibit any foreign identification card from being accepted," Byrne said.
The bankers find themselves on the same side as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, whose members are largely Democrats, and other Latino groups.
Vanessa Gonzalez, communications director of the Hispanic Caucus, called the move "anti-Hispanic."
Growing in acceptance
An individual's matricula consular contains information that includes name and local address. The Mexican government has been issuing the cards for more than a century. But it was only after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that consulates in the United States began a concerted effort to have Mexican nationals apply for the cards.
The cards are issued to all Mexican nationals, whether they are in the United States legally or illegally.
The cards are accepted by about 960 police departments, more than 100 cities and 32 states, according to the Mexican Embassy in Washington.
In Georgia, DeKalb County, Grady Health System and all county vital records offices accept the cards, said Remedios Gomez Arnau, the Mexican consul general in Atlanta.
Elaine Boyer, a DeKalb County commissioner who opposes acceptance of the cards, said the IDs have become "the guiding force behind our foreign policy. Our immigration law needs to change. But I don't think that foreign countries should be the ones that issue cards that allow people to receive services."
Banks in Georgia that accept the cards include Wachovia, Bank of America, SunTrust, United Americas Bank and El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad (the Bank of Our Community).
Jennifer Darwin, a spokeswoman for Wachovia Corp., said it is important for her company to accept the cards because competitors do so and because the bank can serve a population that otherwise would not have financial services.
Banking concerns
While critics contend the cards make it easier for illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States, advocates say the cards are crucial for people who are contributing to local economies with their labor and their purchases.
Luz Urrutia, the president and chief operating officer of Nuestra Tarjeta de Servicios, said that without the cards, a large segment of the Latino immigrant community would be unable to access banking services.
Her company has a joint operating agreement with FLAG bank to operate El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, which services a largely Spanish-speaking, immigrant population. It has branches in Roswell and Norcross, but its clients come from throughout metro Atlanta, Dalton and Athens.
Mexicans sent $10 billion last year to relatives back home, according to the Central Bank of Mexico. But a good chunk of their earnings stays in the United States.
Alfonso Chavez, 28, a native of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, has managed to save nearly $5,000 since he opened an account at El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad. He sends about $200 a month to his parents from his job as a cook.
"If they don't accept the card, then I would have to cancel the account," said Chavez, who lives in Lawrenceville. "It would be like it was before -- with the money in the house."
And even as the controversy simmers on the matricula consular, several other countries -- including Poland, Peru, Guatemala and Honduras -- have said they are either issuing or planning to issue similar identification cards to their nationals in the United States.
All these banking bastards want is access to more money - country be damned.
And more countries are even now planning to print their foreign ID cards!
land of 30 million teats
The article lists Poland, Peru, Guatemala and Honduras....
But can Pakistan be far behind? Many will do this if we allow it.
LOL!
We're gonna run out of teats soon....
That's right, Vanessa. You know that when you don't have a good argument to support your position on a particular issue, it's time to start waving around the worn and tattered Race Card.
Dis-Order...Check out Post 5, we all know that's what is happening.
I didn't see this in time to ring up my Congress Critters by the comment deadline on this vote [I'm going to call then anyway].
So what can we do? We can't just shoot them.
That's right!...and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper is all to happy to help wave it around.
Don't leave home without it!! It's done Jesse well!
What worries me about these MC cards, more than the money, is that some states accept them as ID for applications for drivers license.
Once an illegal gets a drivers license he or she becomes eligible to vote under the Motor Voter law.
Do you want illegal aliens determining who our elected officials may or may not be? I think not.
The bunch that we have in Washington now is bad enough - we don't need any outside help. Thanks anyway!!
That means they are approximately 1.6% ahead of what they sent home at this time last year.
And Peter Jennings was trying to tell me how bad the economy is. Ya' just don't know who to believe anymore do you?
Looks like the illegals are on pace to break last years record of $10 billion.
Well, there's this rodent in D.C. who should have done away with this nonsense by means of an EO on September 12, 2001.... yet it continues..... and it's gotten much worse. So much for 'homeland security'.
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