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More than Mexicans Crossing the Border byPaul L. Williams, Ph.D.thelastcrusade.org [caption id="attachment_887" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="MS-13 Member with Arabic tatoos (Police Photograph)"][/caption] Al Qaeda and the Latino Gang-Bangers The situation at the border now poses a grave threat to national security. Agent Mike Scioli of the U.S. Border Patrol confirms that the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol is facing a worsening problem with Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran street gang that now controls the flow of arms, drugs, and illegal aliens into the U.S. Two members of the violent gang were collared last week in Tucson and Nogales. Twenty have...

An immigration-reform activist says an Illinois branch of the American Red Cross should be taken to task for allowing the Mexican government to use its office to pass out consular identification cards to illegal aliens in the community.

WASHINGTON -- The Mexican Consulate in Atlanta plans to set up a mobile office in Hickory Hill on Saturday to distribute the form of identity cards that U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would prohibit using for opening bank accounts. Blackburn introduced legislation earlier this week to close what she considers a loophole in banking regulations that permit banks to use the matricula consular card as part of the identification for opening a bank account and eventually obtaining credit cards. She has cited danger to financial institutions as a concern. "Our preference would be to see the Mexican government join us...

Top 12 banks that accept the Mexican Matricula State Farm 877 734 2265 Bank of America 800 242 5722 3 Wachovia 800 Wachovia, 800 922 4684 US Bank (merged withMercantile Bank) 800 685 5065 Bank of The West (BNP Paribas) 866 269 2327 Northern Trust 303 335 1401 JPMorgan Chase 877 682 4273 SunTrust 800 786 8787 Wells Fargo 800 869 3557 Charter One 877 Charter Key Bank(Key Corp) 888 539 1234 BB&T 800 226 5228

Dozens of major United States banking institutions led by Bank of America are implementing a nationwide amnesty program for millions of illegal immigrants by accepting as valid identification Mexico's matricula consular cards, which are just a "laminated piece of paper," critics of the plan have charged. The plan, which was outlined in a report by the Center for Immigration Studies four years ago, is gaining notoriety only now because of the Mexican government's specific goal of flying under the radar by working with local and area jurisdictions, instead of national leaders, according to the CIS report. Headlines in the...

The consular IDs, and increasingly the passports, are the best option for Mexicans seeking to register a vehicle, obtain car insurance, cash paychecks, open bank accounts, rent apartments and get a tax ID number to file with the IRS. Although some banks and check-cashing outlets take the matriculas, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles rejects them. The agency does accept passports as supporting documents for drivers licenses for those in the process of legalization. In growing numbers, immigrants from Central and North Florida line up outside the Orlando office of the Mexican Consulate in the middle of...

AURORA - Hundreds of Mexican immigrants lined the sidewalk at Bardwell Elementary School Thursday, awaiting a chance to get identification cards from their native country. The school's gymnasium is playing host to the mobile operation of the Mexican Consulate in Chicago, which will be available to assist Mexican citizens there through Saturday. The vast majority of people waiting in line were seeking to get a matricula consular, a photo ID card designed by the Mexican government primarily for its millions of citizens living in the United States without American documentation. American immigration hawks criticize the matricula cards for making it...

A vote by U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez to allow banks to accept an ID card the Mexican government gives to illegal immigrants has raised the issue of whether Beauprez faced a conflict of interest and voted to protect his own bank. Used Car Blowout! 1999 Ford Expedition $188/mo or $10,988;2003 Infiniti M45 Loaded $23,988 The use of "matricula consular" cards has been controversial in Colorado. The cards, which are issued by the Mexican consulate, are intended to help illegal immigrants prove their identity in the U.S. In 2003, the Colorado legislature passed a law forbidding state and local governments from...

COSTA MESA -- Like many teenagers, Ivan Hernandez wants to buy a car someday. On Sunday, he went to get a wallet-size laminated card that may help. It's not a driver's license or a credit card. Hernandez, 16, is a Mexican citizen, so he applied to his country's consulate for a matricula consular, a photo ID card much like a U.S. state ID. To get the card, applicants must show legal documents such as birth certificates or passports, and they give their fingerprints and signature. Organizers from the Orange County Congregation Community Organization worked with the Laguna Niguel-based Unico Foundation...

The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings. Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City police officer, used his phony card -- which lists his place of birth as "Tijuana, B.C." and his address as "123 Fraud Blvd." on an incorrectly spelled "Staton Island, N.Y." -- to enter the building Wednesday for a meeting with DHS officials. Mr. DeCell said he has had the card for four years and has used...

Lake Havasu City [AZ] recently denied a request by the Mexican government to set up an office in the Aquatic Center to process Mexican Consulate identity cards.City Manager Richard Kaffenberger stated in his report before the Lake Havasu City Council Tuesday that the country of Mexico had contacted the city about opening an office here to process matricula consular ID cards. That request was turned down. Matricula consulars are issued by Mexican Consulate offices to Mexican citizens living in the United States. The card was created in 1870 to help consulates keep in contact with Mexican nationals living in the...

Beacon Hill Appears Ready to Approve Bogus Cards The Mexican government has been issuing over 2 million cards a year to Mexican nationals living in the United States, in many cases to those that they know are here illegally. The "Matricula Consular" card is a form of identity used by Mexican citizens living abroad, and in the case of illegal aliens in this country perhaps the only identification a Mexican might carry if they have no documentation from the U.S., such as a green card or an entry Visa.

Bush administration officials yesterday angered lawmakers by refusing to take a position on illegal aliens obtaining U.S. driver's licenses and avoiding questions about its decision to recognize Mexican identification cards. Officials testifying before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security said they are reviewing what documentation is secure and reliable, but evaded direct questions on the matricula consular cards now accepted by California and New Mexico to obtain driver's licenses. Critics say the cards issued by the Mexican Embassy are easily falsified and used by illegal aliens to establish residency. Stewart Verdery, Homeland Security assistant secretary, was asked directly whether...

Use of the matricula consular is helping many to assimilate, which is one reason those against illegal immigration oppose the card's use. By Jennifer Delson and Anna Gorman, Times Staff Writers Despite opposition from groups that oppose illegal immigration, the matricula consular — an identification card issued by the Mexican government — has become increasingly common and widely used in California. The number issued statewide has jumped from just under 190,000 five years ago to nearly 360,000 last year. Nationwide, the the number has gone from 528,000 to more than 4.7 million last year, according to the Mexican government. Other...

Report: Employers lag on immigration effortBY DENA BUNISThe Orange County Register WASHINGTON - (KRT) Making sure that employers are hiring only legal residents has been a low priority for federal officials, despite the fact that U.S. workplaces are magnets for illegal immigration, according to a congressional watchdog agency report.Since 1986, federal immigration law has required businesses to verify that their employees are legally entitled to work here. But federal officials have not devoted the manpower or resources necessary to enforce that law, the General Accountability Office report concludes."Under the former INS and now ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement,) worksite enforcement...

The agency charged with interior immigration enforcement all but ignores going after illegal aliens in the workplace, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released yesterday. The GAO found that an antiquated system for businesses to verify employees' right to work has hindered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its mission of tracking and deporting illegal aliens in the nation's interior. In addition, the widespread use of fraudulent documents has made it difficult for both employers and ICE to detect illegal workers.

Controversy roils over Mexican IDBy: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff WriterRarely has a single piece of plastic ignited such ire or drawn such support as the Mexican consular identification card, a document the Mexican government issues its citizens who are living abroad. Mexican government officials actively encourage Mexican citizens in the United States to get the card, known as the matricula consular. Mexican officials say the purpose of the high-tech photo ID is to enable consulate officials to identify and protect Mexican citizens and to allow them access to consular services. However, the cards serve as much more. And that...

In the bare-knuckles, confrontational style of legendary community organizer Saul Alinsky, some 1,000 church and community organizers gathered July 17 in the asphalt schoolyard of St. Rose of Lima Church, Maywood, to confront city, county, state and federal officials about their community problems and needs. The grassroots leaders from the South East Cluster of One LA-IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation) zeroed in on four broad areas --- consulate identification, education, safety and immigration rights --- affecting seven cities, including Lynwood, South Gate, Huntington Park and Maywood... ...Community leaders praised Well Fargo Bank for being the first local financial institution to let...

Weekday mornings, area banks set up booths outside the Mexican Consulate in Oxnard, moving to the front of a line that already has formed. The banks are there to help Mexican nationals open what often is their first U.S. bank account. With the account, not only does saving money become safer and cashing checks become easier, but electronic transfers allow immigrants to send money to Mexico faster and cheaper than other methods... Other than households, the money sent from the United States to Mexico could be money used to pay for guides who bring Mexicans across the border, which costs...

Here's the voting record; only 13 opposed it. It now goes to the House. The amendment prohibits it from being used for drivers licenses or government services, but it can still be used to open bank accounts, library cards, etc. In effect, it offers recognition to Illinois' 400,000 illegals who are here to steal jobs and wages from the state's residents. The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald ignored this legislation just as they have ignored a House bill (HB 129) that would give drivers licenses to these criminals. And it remains to be seen whether all foreign governments...

Many 9/11 Families Opposed to Collins' Bill By Peter Gadiel Dec 13, 2004, 08:57 Editor, Sen. Collins persists in claiming that her intelligence reform bill passed because of "the overwhelming support of family members of 9-11 victims." Our organization, 9/11 Families for a Secure America wants to tell the people of Maine that her claim is false. The members of 9/11 FSA, all of whom are relatives of 9/11 victims, represent the families of 300 of those victims. We vociferously opposed the Collins bill in numerous Capitol Hill press conferences, a fact which cannot have escaped Sen. Collins notice. To...

INHOFE SAYS INTELLIGENCE REFORM BILL OVERLOOKS MAJOR ISSUES Wednesday, December 8, 2004 WASHINGTON--U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) today voted against the final passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (S.2845), which was eventually approved by the Senate (89-2). "Today I joined the majority of our Oklahoma delegation in voting against the final passage of this bill," Inhofe said. "While there where many provisions I agreed with, unfortunately there were also glaring omissions that where impossible to overlook and caused me to oppose final passage. "Stripped from the final version of this bill were five provisions...

Consular visits to Orange County cities bestow IDs to immigrants, many of them undocumented, for consumer uses. More than 500 Mexican immigrants arrived at a mobile consular office in San Juan Capistrano on Sunday to get controversial ID cards while hearing pitches from a bank and a real estate agent. Sponsored by a south Orange County nonprofit immigrant advocacy group and the county's Mexican consulate, the event's main attraction was the chance to get a matricula consular. snip ... Because many immigrants have work-hour restrictions during the week and limited transportation, the consulate's mobile and weekend efforts draw big crowds,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to support a Bush administration plan to allow the use of Mexican identification cards to open U.S. bank accounts. The House voted 222 to 177 remove language in an $89.9 billion bill funding the Transportation and Treasury Departments aimed at preventing the use of the cards. The House has yet to vote on the overall bill. The White House and Treasury Department support the cards, known as "matricula consular," which have opened bank doors for many new(illegal)immigrants who lack any form of U.S.-issued identification, allowing them to open accounts...

(Washington, D.C.) Yesterday, during full committee markup, the House Appropriations Committee defeated an amendment by a vote of 26-25 which would remove a harmful provision in the 2005 appropriations bill for transportation and treasury agencies. The misguided language, originally authored by Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) during a subcommittee markup last week, attempts to block financial institutions from accepting the Mexican Consular ID card, also known as the matrícula consular, as a valid form of ID for opening bank accounts. NCLR supported efforts by Congressman Ed Pastor (D-AZ) and other members to remove the Culberson amendment language, which undermines the final...

SAN MARCOS – The state's largest insurer is encouraging Mexican nationals living in California to apply for health insurance by using the "matricula consular," an identification card issued by the Mexican General Consulate. Blue Cross of California officials visited North County Health Services in San Marcos yesterday as part of a statewide effort to spread the word that Mexican immigrants can qualify for private insurance even if they don't have Social Security numbers. Blue Cross joins Health Net of California as the first insurance providers in this state to accept the matricula consular cards as official identification, a nod to...

WASHINGTON (January 28, 2003) -- "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." These are the words of a top official in Mexico's foreign ministry, describing his government's piecemeal approach to securing an amnesty for the 3 to 5 million Mexican illegal aliens in the United States, a strategy adopted in the wake of the new security environment in the U.S. after 9/11. The foremost tool in this strategy is the "matricula consular," or consular registration card, that Mexico hopes will be accepted by governments and businesses across the United States, giving illegal aliens legitimate ID to...

Pick up any newspaper and the headlines are typically about the 9/11 Commission querying what advance warning was available, and what actions (if any) were taken to combat the growing terrorist threat. Even as the press is in a tizzy about these seeming revelations, the FBI has not only identified one glaring hole in the nation's security system but also pointed out its risks, yet has provoked only a collective yawn in response. The reason, I surmise, is that the FBI is pointing fingers at one of the most sacred of cows: the Matricula Consular program, or MCAS (for Matricula...

Other consular IDs welcome City officials like Mexican plan results, want to add other countries Two years after accepting Mexican consulate identification cards as valid forms of identification in Los Angeles, city officials on Friday announced plans to accept ID cards from scores of other countries. Amid concerns about security and encouraging illegal immigration, Los Angeles joined other Southwestern cities in 2002 in recognizing the Mexican photo identification card known as matricula consular . Mayor James Hahn and Councilman Eric Garcetti said Friday that there have been no problems associated with the consular cards and that the city should extend...

A Wake County Superior Court judge on Friday refused to stop the state from enforcing new rules that would make it harder for Mexican immigrants to get driver licenses and state-issued identification cards. Wake Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens said the state Division of Motor Vehicles had the authority to stop accepting Mexican identification cards and other forms of ID without holding public hearings. Two Latino groups filed suit Thursday to try to block the state from enforcing the rules until the public had a chance to comment on them. Barring a successful appeal, the state will begin enforcing the...

TAKE ACTION: Call, Write, and Email your Representatives and Talk Shows in opposition to the Mexican Social Security Raid and the use of Mexican "ID" Cards.Rep. Ron Paul has introduced H.R. 489, the "Social Security for Americans Only Act of 2003", which will block the Mexican raid on Social Security.Please ask your Congressman and Senators to join as a "co-sponsor" of the bill and to vote for H.R. 489.Please contact the White House (202-456-1111), email and ask that the President not sign the agreement with Mexico. Donate Now to help us stop this raid. Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues...

Legend has long held that illegal aliens give American citizens cheap lettuce and cheap child care. Excepting for agribusiness and the upper classes, that legend is, in reality, a nightmare, in which the American middle and working classes pay and pay and pay for illegal immigration, and get nothing but grief in return. In states with heavy illegal alien populations, the budget of a middle-class family is full of hidden illegal alien surcharges. As a result, today’s middle-class American family with two full-time working parents has less discretionary income than its traditional forebear, in which the father alone was...

The Bush administration nearly reached agreement with the Vicente Fox government to give legal status to millions of Mexicans illegally in America, but Sept. 11 brought it to a halt. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday it's time for a legal status short of citizenship for 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants from various countries. The government would legalize the status of those already in the country on a one-time basis, he said. ''Then, as a country, you make a decision that from this day forward, this is the process of entry, and if you violate that process of...

A coalition including Citibank, Bank One, and 33 other banks—banded together as the New Alliance Task Force—are rolling out a model loan program meant to bring undocumented Chicago immigrants into the mortgage mainstream. A few lending pioneers already provide home financing to immigrants with no Social Security numbers, and the task force's hotly debated plan provides guidance to other banks that are interested in following this lead. Without Social Security identification, banks can quantify applicants' credit risk by contacting employers, landlords, and utilities; but the greater risk of extending credit to these borrowers is reflected by a higher interest rate....

<p>Bush administration officials yesterday angered lawmakers by refusing to take a position on illegal aliens obtaining U.S. driver's licenses and avoiding questions about its decision to recognize Mexican identification cards.</p> <p>Officials testifying before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security said they are reviewing what documentation is secure and reliable, but evaded direct questions on the matricula consular cards now accepted by California and New Mexico to obtain driver's licenses.</p>

Mexican nationals who spent much of yesterday waiting in line to apply for "matricula consular" identification cards expressed a wide range of reasons fro seeking them. More than 1,000 people lined up Glencliff High School in Antioch to apply for the cards, but because of preset limits only 650 people were able to apply, said Juan Carlos Lara, counsel for legal affairs at the Mexican Counselate office in Atlanta.

Has Montgomery County, Maryland, seceded from the Union? If only the federal government may promulgate and enforce immigration law, and conduct foreign relations, then Montgomery County is now a sovereign nation. Last week, the Montgomery County Council voted to accept the matricula consular (MC) card issued by the Mexican government, as legal ID for illegal immigrants seeking social services. That was not a typo. Actually, the council reportedly said “immigrants,” but the MC is only distributed by the Mexican government for use by illegal immigrants. For folks looking to engage in legal travel outside of Mexico, the Mexican government...

WASHINGTON - Businesses and cities that accept identification cards issued by Mexico to its citizens in the United States do so at their own risk because the documents are not fraud-proof, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday. The Mexican IDs are under review by a White House-led panel to determine if they pose a security risk and whether the cards should be accepted as proper identification. Known as the matricula consular, the card is issued by Mexico's consulates in the United States and shows the date of birth, a current photograph and the address of the cardholder. Many of...

LAREDO - Pedro Ramon Levia hopes that a controversial little card with his name, his address in the United States and his photograph will simplify his life. Levia, 28, lost his Oregon driver's license three months ago and has found himself living here legally with no ID card. No U.S. address appears on his legal documents, and he has encountered hassles from police and immigration officials because he couldn't produce that information, he said. This week, Levia was in the Mexican consul's office in Laredo applying for the matricula consular. "When you meet the police, they check you for ID,...

Thursday is the deadline for Americans to tell the Treasury Department in no uncertain terms they want to stop acceptance of the Matricula Consular - the Mexican consular ID card. Currently, the department has written bad regulations that allow banks to treat the unverifiable card as a secure identity document, opening the door to money-laundering, identity theft, and terrorists...[end excerpt, begin comments] See this page for the details. Sending your comments to the Treasury Department just involves filling out a web form, as described at that link. For background, see the FBI report here: http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress03/mccraw062603.htm "It is believed that consular...

Panel OKs Use of Identity Cards The bill would require the state to honor Mexican and other foreign ID documents. It is sent to another Senate committee. By Carl Ingram, Times Staff Writer SACRAMENTO — A bill that would require state government to accept Mexican and other foreign identification cards as proof of identity in California was narrowly approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. Documents, such as the matricula consular that Mexico issues its citizens in other countries, now are recognized by more than a dozen city and county governments in California, including Los Angeles. Some banks,...

An ID card issued by the Mexican government [Matricula Consular cards] gained significant backing Tuesday in Wine Country as the Napa City Council voted unanimously to recognize it as valid identification... The cards, however, have become a hot-button issue in the immigration debate, with critics saying they give legitimacy to illegal immigrants and pose a threat to homeland security... The City Council vote was met with cheers by the audience of about three dozen people, including San Franciso's consul general of Mexico. "I always say the hardest part is getting the first one to do it," said Consul General Georgina...

SACRAMENTO — Identification cards issued by Mexico, already accepted by Los Angeles and 14 other local governments in California, would have to be honored by all cities and counties under a bill that cleared the Assembly on Monday. Proponents say widespread acceptance of the cards would make it easier for Mexican citizens living in California to open bank accounts, get marriage licenses, use libraries and respond to routine traffic stops by police. "This bill will benefit thousands of Mexican nationals," said Assemblyman Manny Diaz (D-San Jose), author of AB 522... Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) urged a no vote, calling the...

An Employer in Hot Springs, Arkansas hired a person to come in and give Spanish Lessons to the English speakers who were in the most likely position to communicate with the Spanish speakers. While the company said it would be helpful to know the language of the Spanish-speaking employees, there were no plans to give English lessons to the Mexican Workers. One English-speaking worker states that after about 20 lessons for us dumb English speakers the lessons were scrapped. Several reasons were given as official but the real reasons were that the English speakers said, "Why should we learn their...

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...

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...

Maria Elena Salinas begins her Feb. 3 column in the Rocky Mountain News ("Mexican ID cards are no threat to Americans") by assuring us that the Mexican matricula consular card issued to illegal Mexican aliens in the United States doesn't give them a "license to drive." Well, uh, no, the cards are insecure identity documents. The documents used by the Mexican consulates to authenticate the cards have not themselves been authenticated against computerized data files in Mexico. The Mexican ID card merely identifies Mexican nationals in this country illegally. The Immigration and Naturalization Service recently found multiple matricula cards in...

[via Drudge, full article includes comments from Tancredo] The Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco has become the first federal facility to accept Mexican-issued ID cards, used by both legal and illegal immigrants, as valid identification. The policy was requested by new House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. The building began a four-month trial program this week. Supporters say it will allow holders of the Matricula Consular card access to the building, which requires proper identification from all visitors. Mrs. Pelosi, who this week became the leader of House Democrats, requested the procedure so cardholders would have access...

Protesters target Tancredo Ralliers speak out against congressman on immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo, a staunch opponent of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's immigration policies, bolted from a news conference Thursday as chanting, sign-waving counterprotesters surrounded him. The Colorado congressman, who arrived at the City and County Building to lend support to the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, criticized Webb's decision to accept matricula consular identification cards issued by the Mexican Consulate in Denver. The immigration-reform group threatened to sue the city and said it would file complaints with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. attorney's office within 30 days...

A man and woman walk into a school and present their "matricula consular" to the principal and ask to enroll their child at the school. Like many people in Clayton County, the principal doesn't know what the card is and tells the couple he cannot accept it as a form of identification. That's why the Latin American Association of Atlanta is encouraging county and city governments to accept the "matricula consular," an identification card issued by the Mexican consulate to Mexican citizens living in the United States. Many immigrants are in the process of adjusting their status with the Immigration...