ID debate: Mexican consular cards at center of argument over national security

By Timothy Pratt

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

Gerardo Garcia had no idea he was stepping into a national controversy when he borrowed a pen to fill out a form at the Mexican consulate in downtown Las Vegas.

Garcia, a 21-year-old construction worker, was applying for a Mexican consular ID. About 23,000 people have done the same in the last year.

Most of those 23,000 people had no way to prove their identities to local banks and police before two significant events: the consulate opened in February 2002, and Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Bank of America and Metro Police decided to accept the cards, called matriculas consulares, as a legitimate form of identification.

In cities nationwide, 1.5 million Mexicans -- an unknown number of whom are in the country illegally -- have also obtained the ID in the last year, said Berenice Rendon, consul at the Las Vegas office.

Many of those people use the card to open bank accounts and to comply with authorities' demands for identification. In some states, the wallet-sized card is even accepted as one form of identification for obtaining a driver's license.

This has anti-immigrant groups and some members of Congress upset.

Mark Krikorian, director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, accuses the Mexican government of trying to advance a "de facto amnesty" for millions of undocumented immigrants. A recently published report by the center said the ID's growing acceptance undermines national sovereignty and the war against terrorism.

"The reason the Mexican government is pushing this is ... to incorporate illegals into the institutions of our society," Krikorian said.

Rep. Thomas Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, has introduced a bill to bar the ID from being used for obtaining services from federal agencies.

"We think only IDs issued by the U.S. government should be received," said Lara Kennedy, press secretary for Tancredo.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a member of the House Intelligence Committee and one of the congressional leaders chosen to push President Bush's legislation creating the Homeland Security Department, supports Tancredo's bill, and is considering becoming a co-sponsor, said Amy Spanbauer, spokeswoman for Gibbons.

"We have always had a problem with illegal immigration, especially in the last two years with the war on terrorism," Spanbauer said.

"By allowing illegal immigrants easier access into our country, it takes away from those who are working by the book to become legal residents or citizens," she added.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was not available for comment, but her spokesman, Michael O'Donovan, cautioned that Tancredo's bill could have unintended consequences -- "such as barring the use of passports as identification by foreign nationals."

But several of the 100 or so Mexicans in line at the consulate in Las Vegas on Monday had other views on the issue.

Hector Hernandez, a landscaper in the Las Vegas Valley for the last 13 years and a U.S. citizen, was getting the card to make his twice-yearly visits to Hidalgo, Mexico, a little easier. The card is cheaper than a passport, and more convenient than the birth certificate he's carried with him for years on trips back home.

Hernandez may be uncommon, since many seek the ID because they are undocumented immigrants and lack any other form of identification. To obtain the card, applicants must show the consulate proof of nationality such as a birth certificate, proof of address such as a telephone bill, and an official document from Mexico or the United States.

Though the 31-year-old landscaper said the ID was a simple convenience for him, he said the wallet-sized card could have saved a friend's life two years ago.

His friend, Cipriano, was also a landscaper, and in the country illegally. Like many undocumented immigrants, he kept his money at home, unable to open a bank account. Other immigrants knew his payday schedule, broke into his apartment, and killed him, Hernandez said -- for $500.

"If he had had ID to open a bank account, maybe that wouldn't have happened," Hernandez said.

Nationwide and locally banks recognize the potential windfall represented by an estimated 3 million to 5 million undocumented immigrants from Mexico.

Wells Fargo has financed the printing of 200,000 pamphlets titled "The Matricula Consular and Banking Services," 6,000 of which are being distributed in Las Vegas. U.S. Bank has followed suit, with 50,000 pamphlets nationwide and 5,000 soon to be distributed locally. The banks wouldn't reveal the printing and distribution costs.

Jeanette Forrest, personal banker from a North Las Vegas branch of U.S. Bank, said new accounts have gone from an average of three to four per week to as many as 16 per week in the year since the bank has begun accepting the matriculas consulares.

Miriam Galicia Duarte, in charge of handling the issue for Wells Fargo, said that about 80,000 new accounts have been opened nationwide using the consular ID in the past year -- about 2 percent of all accounts.

"The initiative has been very successful," she said.

Ted Weahking, executive director for the Nevada Bankers Association, said that using the consular ID to open new accounts made sense to him.

"It seems like it would increase security for everyone ... and that's the role that banks have played for the longest time," he said.

But Tancredo and others see the cards being used to open bank accounts as a way of offering illegal immigrants access to American life.

Opponents of the card see it as just another example of why the card should not have official status in the United States.

"We oppose its use in general ... and think the legislation could have ripple effects on banks in the future," said Kennedy, Tancredo's spokeswoman.

When asked about Tancredo's effort, Alice Perez, Hispanic market manager for U.S. Bank, said, "It would be unfortunate for individuals who are contributing to our economy to not have access to financial services."

Banks aren't the only ones accepting the ID. Since last fall Metro Police officers have accepted the card "in non-critical situations where a person needs to identify themselves," said Lt. Stan Olsen, Metro's governmental liaison.

"(It) is an administrative issue, not a criminal one," he added.

The card helps save police time and resources when someone is stopped for a minor offense because lack of identification requires authorities to detain the person and verify his or her identity.

But opponents say that the cards threaten security, because police checks are not run on applicants. The Center for Immigration Study's report called it "a shield that hides past or current criminal activity."

The Mexican consulate has made presentations to police chiefs statewide on the ID and is distributing a card that allows authorities to "read" the matricula's hologram, to verify its authenticity.

About 2,000 of the "decoder cards" have been handed out to police and banks in Nevada, and more are on order, Rendon said.

Krikorian said these sorts of meetings are occurring nationwide and sees them as wrong.

"Mexican consulates ... lobbying local and state governments -- including police -- is simply inappropriate and not a function of a foreign government," he said.

At the consulate Monday Garcia didn't understand what the fuss was all about.

He said the matriculas are also good for the United States, since they offer a way to keep track of people.

"There are thousands of people out there that the government doesn't know about," he said.

"With this, they know who we are."