New consulate busy in post-attack climate

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

The Mexican Consulate of Nevada opened Monday in Las Vegas to long lines of Mexican citizens in search of ID cards that, since Sept. 11, are much in demand.

The photo IDs, in use for more than a century, identify holders as Mexican citizens who are residing abroad.

Since Sept. 11 Mexico's 46 consulates in the United States have seen demand for the identification card double, as thousands of undocumented immigrants seek to protect themselves in a more security-conscious nation.

On Monday, 71 sought the card at the new consular office at 330 S. Fourth St., outnumbering by 10 all other requests combined.

Apart from offering a form of identification to many who have none, the card offers other benefits. Banks around the nation announced in November that the card can be used to open checking and savings accounts. The Mexican government also has begun pushing to have the ID accepted for obtaining driver's licenses -- instead of Social Security cards.

"We're looking to have this ID recognized more by governments and businesses here as an official document, and are considering the issue of driver's licenses a priority," Berenice Rendon, consul for Mexico in Las Vegas, said. But anti-immigration groups oppose the move, seeing it as attempt to give some legitimacy to illegal immigrants.

"This is the camel sticking its nose under the tent," said David Ray, spokesman for the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform.

"It's a bad idea for government or institutions to recognize this ID because the document just shows that its holder is an illegal alien, since the person needs it precisely because he has no other form of identification," he said.

Rendon said the consulate will serve about 300,000 Mexicans who live in Nevada. This doesn't include undocumented immigrants, who may total up to 125,000.

Gustavo Mercado, 26, was waiting in line shortly after the consulate opened at 9 a.m. He has lived in Las Vegas for four years after residing in Texas for eight. He said he lost a Texas state identification card a week before Sept.11.

"I thought of going back to Texas to fix my situation, but then all the news about how they were stopping everyone made me scared of traveling without any identification," he said.

"I thought of going to San Bernardino, but this also scared me."

The California consulate covered Southern Nevada until the Las Vegas office opened.

Juan Jose Salgado, the San Bernardino, Calif., consul, said requests for the consular ID went from about 1,400 to 3,000 a month since Sept. 11 -- 15 percent of the requests from immigrants living in Las Vegas.

"When I heard this office was opening up, it was a big relief," Mercado said.

Sean French, community banking president for Wells Fargo Bank, welcomed the local availability of the cards.

Wells Fargo, which has 65 branch locations in Las Vegas, accepts the consular ID for people trying to open checking and savings accounts.