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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...