News Articles on the Mexican matricula consular illegal alien ID card - CAIR

Consulate library use blasted
By Perry Swanson, Colorado Springs Gazette, February 7, 2006
Articles below this point include excerpts.

Hundreds protest, attend Mobile Consulate
By Dennis Webb, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, March 13, 2005
Hundreds of people spoke out on opposing sides of the immigration issue this weekend in Glenwood Springs....
Between 600 and 700 people had shown up by early afternoon Saturday in hopes of taking advantage of the Mobile Consulate services of the Consulate General of Mexico's Denver office.
A day earlier, the Glenwood Springs Police Department was deluged by calls objecting to the department, and city's, role in helping put on an event that was held to issue matricula consular identification cards. In 2003, the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform successfully lobbied the state legislature to ban state agencies and political subdivisions from accepting the card as valid ID in most circumstances....
Aspen resident Mike McGarry, Western Slope coordinator for CAIR,... said in a statement, "It is unimaginable that Chief Wilson would provide his city's facilities at taxpayers' expense to the (Mexican) government to sell its outlawed ID card, a card the FBI and the Justice Department have said is risky, unreliable and poses major criminal threats."
See related CAIR news release.
Immigration foes target Glenwood chief
David Frey, Aspen Daily News, March 12, 2005
Immigration critics are blasting the city of Glenwood Springs for allowing the Mexican consulate to use the city's community center to meet with the Mexican community and issue Mexican identification cards they say are a security risk that benefit immigrants who flouted American laws to come here.
Critics singled out Police Chief Terry Wilson, whose department agreed to host the mobile consulate and cover any fees for using the room.
Mike McGarry, an Aspen resident and Western Slope coordinator for the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, called Wilson a "rogue cop" who he said was ignoring the intent of recent state legislation that said state agencies can't accept those cards as official identification in many circumstances.
"Since only illegals need this card," McGarry said, "you can say they're aiding and abetting against state statute."
McGarry said his organization had asked Gov. Bill Owens, the state attorney general and state legislators to investigate and it may ask the district court to step in....
See related CAIR news release.
Immigration officials attack police chief on Mexican issues
by Kristen Senz, The Daily Sentinel, Glenwood Springs, March 12, 2005
A spokesman for a Colorado immigration reform group has blasted the Glenwood Springs police chief for providing the city’s community center as a venue today for the Consulate General of Mexico to issue its Consular ID card to Mexican nationals living in the region...
Outraged Aspen resident Mike McGarry, Western Slope coordinator for the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR), wrote a three-page letter to Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson after he heard that tax dollars would be used to pay fees for the use of the community center.
In the letter, McGarry calls Wilson’s actions “reckless, arbitrary and outrageous,” and says the “rogue cop” should be investigated by the state’s top officials....
Phony Mexican IDs for sale in Los Angeles park
By E.J. Tamara, Quepasa, July 23, 2003

"A burgeoning black market here frequented by illegal immigrants has a new product: the forged 'matricula consular,' an official Mexican document some states accept for opening a bank account or getting a driver's license.

The fake registration cards are sold in broad daylight just two blocks from the Mexican Consulate at MacArthur Park, where interested parties can also buy phony Social Security cards, driver licenses, work permits and green cards."
Republicans tell Ridge Mexican ID card a threat to security
By Michelle Mittelstadt, The Dallas Morning News, July 9, 2003

"The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees voiced 'increasing concern' Thursday about rising U.S. acceptance of a Mexican consular ID card that is helpful mainly to illegal immigrants [illegal aliens] who lack legitimate U.S. identification...

The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees voiced 'increasing concern' Thursday about rising U.S. acceptance of a Mexican consular ID card that is helpful mainly to illegal immigrants [illegal aliens] who lack legitimate U.S. identification.

The Treasury decision 'appears to subvert' sections in the USA Patriot Act designed 'to make it more difficult for potential terrorists to open bank accounts,'"
Mexico official suspended amid visa-trafficking allegations
By Ricardo Sandoval, The Dallas Morning News, July 9, 2003

"MEXICO CITY - (KRT) - The official credited with revamping security for identification cards issued to Mexicans abroad has been suspended amid an investigation into a visa-trafficking enterprise run out of the country's embassies and consulates in Latin America.

Roberto Rodriguez, chief of consular affairs and protection for Mexico's Foreign Ministry, has been "separated" from his duties while investigators from the federal comptroller's office look into allegations that at least 400 visas were fraudulently issued by Mexico's embassy in Cuba and other consular posts in Latin America, according to Mexican officials."
Mexican ID not valid, a 'threat,' FBI says
By Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times, June 27, 2003

"The Matricula Consular card, issued by the Mexican government to Mexicans living in the United States, 'is not a reliable form of identification' and poses a criminal and terrorist threat, the FBI has concluded."

But the FBI has determined that those documents, particularly Mexican birth certificates, are 'easy to forge' and are a hot item in the fraudulent-document trade."
U.S. ban on 'matriculas' urged
By Jim Geraghty, States News Service, published in the Denver Post, June 20, 2003

"WASHINGTON - Congress should pass a national version of a Colorado law that bans state and local governments from recognizing "non-secure, non-verifiable" foreign identification cards, state Senate President John Andrews told a House panel Thursday.

Subcommittee chairman John Hostettler, R-Ind., said that by helping illegal immigrants get services in the United States, foreign governments could 'undermine federal immigration law and national immigration policy.'"
ID law touted in D.C.
By John J. Sanko, Rocky Mountain News, June 19, 2003

"State Senate President John Andrews will be in Washington, D.C., today singing the praises of Colorado's new law that bars immigrants from using the matricula identification cards issued by Mexican consulates across the country...

"It's a serious problem, getting more serious all of the time, all over the country," Andrews said. "Colorado is the first state to start saying no, and I'm going to urge Congress that they should pass legislation that does the same thing."

The Colorado Secure and Verifiable Identification Act that Gov. Bill Owens signed into law on May 22 bars state and local government officials from accepting the driver's license-size cards as official personal identification.

Among the law's most outspoken critics has been Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, who said the message Andrews is delivering will hurt rather than help efforts to curb illegal immigration and to improve homeland security. "
Mexican Citizens' ID Card Is Targeted
By Tim Sullivan, The Salt Lake Tribune, June 5, 2003

"Now that Colorado has reversed state law and no longer recognizes the 'matricula consular' -- an ID card issued by the Mexican government to its expatriate citizens -- some Utahns are seeking a similar move here...

'[The matricula] is a push by the Mexican government to dictate foreign and immigration policy,' said Fred Elbel, co-president of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, which backed HB 1224. 'And it's nickel and diming toward amnesty...'"
Immigrants [illegal aliens] decry consular ID limits
By Eric Schmidt, Denver Post, June 1, 2003

House Bill 1224, which Gov. Bill Owens enacted last week, makes Colorado the first state to bar public entities from accepting identification not issued or recognized by state or federal agencies. The law's most immediate target is the matricula consular - an ID issued by the Mexican government to citizens living abroad.

Sara Varela, who lives in Aurora and works as a hotel maid, said the matricula consular has become crucial to her everyday life... 'I have lots of friends who used it to get a bank account. That's what's most important,' Varela said. 'Even if the government doesn't accept it, (the card) will still work' for other things.

Still, other recent immigrants [illegal aliens] said the law is just another blow among many they've suffered in the past two years, and a sign that a society that once welcomed them, with or without papers, now seems to be changing its mind.
Owens signs law on foreign ID cards
By Associated Press, May 24, 2003

"Immigrants [illegal aliens] will be prohibited from using identity cards issued by foreign governments as official documents under a law that took effect Friday.

Instead, they will have to register with federal and state agencies before receiving government services.

'Given the world situation today, it is more important than ever to have forms of identification that are as secure and as verifiable as possible,' Gov. Bill Owens said as he signed the law. 'With the many resources at their disposal, federal and state agencies are best suited for issuing such documents.'

Lawmakers who supported the measure said the cards encourage illegal immigration and could make it easier for terrorists to get identification."
Dominican Republic want their IDs accepted
New York Times, May 2, 2003

"The Dominican Consulate is planning a move that it hopes will ease the lives of some of the city's Dominican immigrants. But despite good intentions, its usefulness may be limited.

As soon as next month, the consulate will start issuing an identification card known as the matricula consular. With this ID, illegal immigrants would find it easier to open bank accounts and identify themselves to the police.

'The objective is that this document will serve as identification, proof of residence and of nationality,' said Juan Pena, special assistant to the consul general, 'so those who are in the shadows come out into the light of society, even if they are illegal.'"
Mobile consulate brings services to Guatemalans
By Norma de la Vega, San Diego Union-Tribune, March 30, 2003

The staff of the [Guatemalan] "consulado movil" helped the immigrants obtain a variety of documents, including passports and the ID card, known as "matricula consular."

The Guatemalan government estimates there are 20,000 of their natives in San Diego County.

Los Angeles Consul-General Fernando Castillo, on hand yesterday, said his office plans about 20 these weekend mobile consulates this year in several states, including Arizona and Hawaii.

The Guatemalan government is borrowing a page from Mexico, which also has offered mobile services to its citizens living in the United States and also offers a consular ID card.
Bill to bar Mexican IDs advances - Plan would make it tougher for illegals to get documents
By John J. Sanko, Rocky Mountain News, March 15, 2003

State lawmakers began to slam the door Friday on people using Mexican consulate identification cards to get everything from car registration papers to marriage licenses.

Andrews did amend the bill to allow use of the cards for identification in some instances - when police make a traffic stop or are investigating crimes, or in the case of pregnant women, or women who have given birth.
Mexican ID cards under fire - Tancredo bill would make them invalid at banks, U.S. agencies
By Owen S. Good, The Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 2003

"The ID card issued to illegal immigrants by Mexico's government could be useless at banks and federal agencies under legislation proposed by Rep. Tom Tancredo...

More than 42,000 Mexicans in Colorado have matricula consular cards."
More countries issue ID cards to illegal aliens in U.S.
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, January 29, 2003

"Guatemala, Honduras, Poland, Peru and El Salvador, aware of Mexico's success in getting identification cards to its citizens in the United States, including those here illegally, have begun or are considering issuing cards of their own, federal officials said yesterday...

While Mexican President Vicente Fox has been unsuccessful after the September 11 attacks on America in getting new amnesty agreements, he has overseen an active lobbying campaign by the Mexican government to persuade U.S. mayors, police chiefs and bank presidents to accept the cards as legal identification...

The Mexican lobbying effort first targeted U.S. banks that hope to cash in on some of the $9.5 billion sent home last year by the Mexican nationals in this country unable to open bank accounts because of a lack of proper identification... Wells Fargo Bank was the first to accept the card...

Ironically, no major bank in Mexico lists the "matricula consular card" among the official identification documents they accept to open an account, and the cards are recognized for identification purpose in only 10 of Mexico's 32 states and districts."
Backlash to Mexican IDs grows - Feds scrutinize consulate cards; state could outlaw its acceptance
By Greg Avery, Colorado Daily Camera, January 25, 2003

Earlier this week, state Senate President John Andrews, R-Centennial, and Rep. Don Lee, R-Littleton, announced they were drafting a bill that, if passed by the Legislature, would outlaw accepting the matricula consular cards in Colorado...

Cities and banks have been threatened with lawsuits over their acceptance of the cards by activists claiming that recognizing the card breaks federal law by helping illegal immigrants.

Municipalities in Michigan and Arizona have decided not to honor the card as an official ID, as have several states in the Northeast... The General Services Administration, which manages all federal buildings in the country, stopped acceptance of any country's consular-issued identification documents at federal agencies, citing security concerns and "pending further study."
Acceptance of matriculas consular signals flawed thinking
By Georgie Anne Geyer, January 24, 2003

"...if you want to see what is really wrong with the Democratic Party today, you need look only at the first move by California Democrat and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Her push for allowing Mexican ID cards to be used for entry to the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco should go down as this era's equivalent to Bill Clinton's 'gays in the military' policy in the first few months of his administration, which immediately alerted the nation to his essential lack of seriousness...

Indeed, as The Washington Times put it: 'Cardholders are widely recognized to be in the United States illegally because they otherwise would be able to obtain state-issued cards, such as driver's licenses.'...

Over the last 10 years, Mexico has approved -- and the United States has simply acquiesced to -- the right of Mexican nationals to 'dual citizenship' in the countries... Because of vast emigration to the United States, and because of its intention to get a massive 'amnesty' for Mexicans in America illegally, the Mexican government is attempting to extend its control over Mexicans wherever they are....

Meanwhile, Mexico continues to have one of the most corrupt officialdoms in the world. Matriculas -- or anything else -- can be purchased just as easily as other immigration identity cards offered on every street corner in Tijuana, Monterrey or even San Diego. But the United States remains unable and unwilling to defend its own institutions and identifications.

Until some new voices arise, reminding us that we have not only the right, but the duty, to control our borders and the identification of our citizens, acts such as these [Pelosi's] will be infinitely greater threats to America than foreign armies halfway around the world."
Consular ID cards under U.S. scrutiny - Use by illegal immigrants criticized
By Bill McAllister, Denver Post Washington Bureau, January 24, 2003

"Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, general director of the card project and an official in Mexico's foreign ministry, [was quoted] as telling a Washington Times reporter: 'It's necessary to push the need for an amnesty at all levels.'"
GSA bars Mexican ID cards
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, January 22, 2003

The General Services Administration has suspended recognition of identification cards issued by the Mexican government to its nationals in this country, pending an investigation by the State Department, GSA and other federal agencies.

Law-enforcement authorities said more than a million Mexican nationals, including hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, have obtained the identity cards.

The GSA suspension means the cards will no longer be accepted for identification purposes at federal facilities, including the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, where House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, endorsed a four-month pilot program last month authorizing acceptance of the cards as legitimate forms of identification.
Mexico gives IDs to illegal aliens
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, January 21, 2003

"Aside from tacitly recognizing the presence of people who are violating the law, Mr. Stein [Federation for American Immigration Reform] said the 'U.S. government - in allowing the cards to be used as identification - has placed critical national security matters in the hands of the foreign governments that issue the cards'.

'We know that corruption is prevalent in the Mexican government, and yet we are relying on a chain of faceless Mexican bureaucrats to vouch for the identities of millions of people, about whom the only thing we know for certain is that they've broken our immigration laws,' he said.

Last week, in a letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, 12 House members questioned the propriety of the cards, describing them as an 'issue of enormous significance that has massive implications for the nation.'

The lawmakers said that in addition to Mexican authorities, officials in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras had increased their efforts to provide 'identification cards to their nationals living illegally in the United States.' They also said Mexico had undertaken 'a massive lobbying effort' to persuade local authorities to accept the cards for identification purposes."
Alien IDs challenged
By David Milstead, The Rocky Mountain News, January 18, 2003

"An anti-illegal immigration group has sent a letter to the 50 biggest banks in Colorado claiming they are exposed to criminal and civil liability by accepting the matricula consular card as a form of identification when signing up new customers...

The card, issued by the Mexican consulate, has enabled thousands of illegal immigrants to open bank accounts in Colorado and across the nation. Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement, [an] Omaha-based group, agrees the card is identification, but says what it essentially identifies is an illegal alien...

And aiding and abetting illegal immigration, says director Craig Nelsen, is a crime. Banks are exposed to civil and criminal liablity by accepting them, and FILE will provide legal assistance to anyone who wants to sue the banks.., Nelsen said."
Owens questions Mexican consulate
By John J. Sanko And Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News, January 16, 2003

"Gov. Bill Owens has asked the Mexican consulate in Denver to clarify the status of its spokesman after lawmakers said he is lobbying them without the proper credentials. Gubernatorial spokesman Dan Hopkins said Owens sent a Dec. 27 letter to the Consulate General of Mexico asking for an explanation of Mario Hernandez's official status."
Most oppose Mexican ID cards during debate
The Rocky Mountain News, January 9, 2003

"The identification cards, called matriculas consular, stirred emotions among the 140 people in the audience, most of whom appeared to oppose the documents issued by Mexico's consulate in Denver.

Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, a Lakewood-based group opposing unauthorized immigration to the United States, sponsored the debate among three speakers on each side of the issue.

'We have to bring some sanity to the identification process and who's legally and illegally in this country,' [former Colorado Governor] Lamm said. 'I think it's a very serious mistake for our jurisdictions to go ahead and start accepting this, and I would encourage our state Legislature to use the power they have to make this practice illegal.'"
Debate about consular ID cards brings up humane, legality issues
The Denver Post, January 9, 2003

"Mike McGarry, of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, which sponsored the debate along with the Metropolitan State College of Denver Office of Student Activities, called them 'sham cards issued by a corrupt foreign government to its citizens illegally in this country.' He said, 'The fact that there is no credibility in the issuing process should be the end of it.' Polls have shown the citizens of the U.S. don't want the cards to be accepted, McGarry said.

Former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm agreed with [panelist Michelle] Malkin that 'There is a trump issue here, and that trump issue is national security.'"
Immigration foes fight city hall - Boulders acceptance of matricula consular cards could be illegal
by Ron Bain, Boulder Weekly, January 2, 2003

"[Boulder Deputy Mayor Tom] Eldridge says he's not worried about illegal aliens or a potential lawsuit against the city's insurance provider, Genesis Company of Standford, Connecticut. "I view the issue, the whole immigration issue, as one thing, and helping people here who are getting ripped off via money transfers as another issue," Eldridge says. "We should welcome Mexicans to bring what they bring, which is labor."

If the city government loses its liability insurance coverage, any liabilities encountered would be paid from the general fund of taxpayer monies, Eldridge explained."
N.Y. No to Mexican Consular IDs?
The Associated Press, December 28, 2002

New York City and the state refuse to accept identification cards issued by the Mexican consulate as valid forms of ID for Mexican immigrants, a published report said.

Salvador Beltran del Rio Madrid, the Mexican consul general in New York, told the Times he has quietly lobbied government officials to have the consular card added to a list of acceptable forms of identification.
Boulder aiding aliens?
By Adam Ewing, Colorado Daily, December 28, 2002

"We insist that any public entity in Boulder City and County that currently accepts the matricula consular cease and desist forthwith,... And, in all good faith, we caution any public entity that is considering acceptance of the card that there are serious legal concerns and liability issues attached to such acceptance."
Consuls going to bat for Mexican workers
by Michael Riley, The Denver Post, December 26, 2002

"'We've received instructions from President Fox to work as hard as we can in order to make life a little less difficult for our Mexican compatriots,' said [Mexican consul] Calzada, who this year has traveled to more than 20 Colorado cities, meeting with dozens of mayors, police chiefs, school superintendents and county commissioners....

[Some states] now accept the [matricula consular] ID as proof of identity to issue driver's licenses, leading critics to suggest the card blurs the line between legal immigrants and those who sneaked into the country or overstayed their visas.

It's under the radar. There is really no public debate about this,' said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at Virginia's College of William and Mary.

If you had a national debate about granting substantial benefits to people who have broken the law to enter this country,' Grayson said, 'the Fox administration would lose.'"
Fox seeks U.S. agreement to protect migrant workers
Susana Hayward, Knight Ridder Newspapers, The Denver Post, December 19, 2002

The Mexican president also praised his administration's efforts in the so-called matricula consular identification program, which he says has enrolled almost 2 million people since 2001.

The program provides official Mexican ID cards to Mexican citizens who are in the United States without legal papers.
Matricula Melee - Group threatens fight over Mexican ID cards
by Terje Langeland, Colorado Springs Independent, December 12, 2002

Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement (FILE), a newly formed advocacy group based in Omaha, Neb., recently wrote letters to the City and County as well as numerous other municipalities throughout Colorado, demanding that they stop accepting the [matricula consular Mexican ID] card.

Craig Nelsen, the director of FILE,... claims the growing acceptance of the card amounts to a "stealth amnesty" for illegal immigrants, and that local governments are in effect setting immigration policy, which is the constitutional prerogative of the federal government. Eventually, Nelsen's group hopes to file a lawsuit challenging the acceptance of the card, he says.
Dark Cloud commentary on Mexican matricula consular id cards
As heard on Boulder public radio KGNU, December 4, 2002

Mexican birth certificates are about as difficult to copy and forge as homework and, in any case, people are routinely found with numerous different birth certificates... there is nothing to verify the signature as that of an actual landlord and no time or money to do so... So, equipped with these two glowing elements of self worth and identity - a Mexican birth certificate and a letter from a work slaver or another illegal alien - Mexican residents in the United States could get a driver's license.
Working for the future - Migrants risk much for life-changing gains in U.S.
By Louis Aguilar and Kevin Simpson, December 1, 2002

Manuel walks to the Day Labor Center run by the American Friends Service Committee, a nonprofit group founded by Quakers, on the corner of Park Avenue West and California Street... There he mingles with about 50 to 80 men, almost all illegals from Mexico or Central America, who gather at the former gas station and wait for potential day jobs... The rules are simple: To hire a worker, an employer must sign a sheet of paper and promise to pay at least $8 an hour... "I did lie to get here," he says, "but it's what everybody does..." For 13 years, he flashed a fake Social Security card

The National Agricultural Workers Survey produced data in its March 2000 report that ... an estimated 45 percent of the mountain region's seasonal crop workers are here illegally, compared with 28 percent who are U.S. citizens.

Today, a U.S.-born child can obtain permanent residency for immediate relatives only after turning 21.
Counterpoint: House of cards
By Linda Seebach, Rocky Mountain News, November 23, 2002

We must first dispose of the canard that opponents of illegal immigration are, overtly or covertly, racists. The focus on Mexican nationals is a matter of numbers, not of ethnicity.

Apologists for illegal immigration love the matricula consular [ID card]. But that doesn't explain why elected officials in dozens of cities and counties across the United States - including Denver - have decided to accept them as legal proof of identity. They are sworn to uphold the law, not to subvert it for their own convenience.

Illegal immigrants come here only to work? That's not an exoneration, it's an indictment. Not only do they want to be present in the United States illegally, but they fully intend to support themselves here by working illegally as well.

Illegal immigrants take only jobs Americans won't do? That's patently untrue. The foreign-born population (legal and illegal) is concentrated in a handful of states, but the jobs get done everywhere.

You know what? It's supposed to be difficult for people to live here if they have no right to be here, wherever they come from. Public officials shouldn't be trying to make it easier.
INS rebuffs Tancredo on ID issue
By Michael A. De Yoanna, Colorado Daily, November 22, 2002

"These [matricula consular cards] are phony, sham cards," Michael McGarry, a spokesman for the reform alliance, said. "There is no way for our government to prove they are not fraudulent. We believe the mayor of Denver to be in violation of federal codes. In a very general sense it is a question of whether the federal government supercedes the local government. We think it does for a number of reasons, including national security."
INS won't likely interfere with Ids
The Colorado Daily, November 15, 2002
Lo, the emperor's Mexican ID card - Boulder would be wrong to recognize it
By Mike McGarry, The Daily Camera, November 17, 2002

Polls show Coloradans overwhelming oppose local governments' accommodating the presence of illegals. There is no reason to believe the citizens and legal residents of Boulder are any more inclined to want their security compromised, their city put in legal jeopardy, their City Council acting incautiously. Nor are they necessarily more likely to want to embrace lawbreakers while rejecting those who faithfully did all we asked of them.

The Republic of Boulder has traditionally distinguished itself as a promoter of progressive ideas. Accepting the bogus matricula card would not be progressive, prudent, ethical or compassionate. Indeed, it would be a reckless, dangerous game of pretend.

Mexico to campaign for rights of migrant workers
by Sara Silver, The Financial Times (U.K.), November 6, 2002

"Disappointed by the lack of progress towards a migration accord, Mexico is preparing to launch its own campaign to convince US legislators and the public of the benefits of legalising millions of Mexican workers.

The Mexican government has been following an 'onion' approach to resolving the problem. At the core, it is persuading local and state authorities in the US to accept ID cards given out by Mexico's 47 consulates in the US. Those cards help Mexicans to gain access to services and, under a future migration accord, could help them claim legal rights.

The outer layer of the onion consists of the plan to reach US legislators."
Metro: City challenged on Mexican ID
The Denver Post, November 1, 2002
Activists challenge Mexican ID cards - Their acceptance in Boulder, Denver would violate the law, group says
By Greg Avery, Camera Staff Writer, November 1, 2002

Increasing acceptance of the matricula consular threatens national security. "Eventually it will eliminate the whole concept of borders, and then you have no country - you're just a place on a map, I guess," Tancredo said.
Group alleges Denver policies violated federal law
By Jon Sarche, Associated Press Writer, October 31, 2002

The city's new policy of accepting identification cards issued by the Mexican Consul and a provision of $15,000 to a job center may have violated federal immigration laws, the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform alleged today.
Tancredo calls on INS to stake out consulate - Lawmaker: Immigrants will seek IDs
by Al Knight The Denver Post, October 13, 2002

"You and your INS colleagues have been ignoring ... this assembly of illegal immigrants occurring right under your nose," Tancredo told Comfort in a letter released by his Washington office. "Your inaction is telling the citizens of Denver and of Colorado that the immigration laws of the United States are null and void within the Denver district."
- Rep. Tom Tancredo
Mexican ID cards caught in growing debate - Federal authorities warn that 'matriculas' are not reliable
By Michael Riley, The Denver Post, October 10, 2002

"From a staff standpoint, we just feel it is a much more qualified form of identification and much less susceptible to alteration," said Lt. Skip Arms, a police spokesman in Colorado Springs, which began accepting the matricula in July after a vote by the City Council.

Federal immigration authorities say that if police officers believe they can trust the cards, they're flat wrong. "One guy we arrested recently had three different matriculas with three different names." The INS's worry stems from the fact that the cards are mostly used by illegal immigrants who have no way to get a legal form of U.S. identification.
Again, facts don't matter in Denver
by Al Knight The Denver Post, October 8, 2002

"These [matricula consular] cards are a key project of a foreign government and they are an attempt to create a new class of immigrants, not quite legal but not quite illegal either. The Mexican consulate in Denver has issued 8,000 just since June. That works out to about one every five minutes during regular office hours. Does anyone really believe this constitutes a 'high degree of proof of identification'?"
City begins accepting Mexico IDs
by Michael Riley, The Denver Post, October 4, 2002
Illegal Mexicans, Consular Offices, Multiplying
By Joe Guzzardi, www.VDare.com, August 14, 2002

"... current, official State Department records show Mexico with 65 consular offices... In other words, 22 more offices are cranking out matricula consular cards or providing information about how to obtain them. In addition to the 65 busy offices, many Mexican consulates have set up sub-stations, mostly churches, to assist in their mission.

New York Times ... reporter Stephen Kinzer wrote 'Mexico's Cultural Diplomacy Aims to Win Hearts in U.S.' For at least the next two years and perhaps much longer advises Kinzer, '...Mexican art shows will be at American museums without interruption... This new wave of cultural generosity supports the politics of Vicente Fox who favors closer relations between the U.S. and Mexico.' Since President Fox took office, 'the principal object of Mexico's cultural largesse has been the U.S.'...

Forgive me for thinking - this week at least - that I just might live to see 'La Reconquista' completed in my lifetime.