COMMENTARY
Matricula
Consular – official
identification and an all around good
idea.
By Patrick Osio,
Jr.
One would think we
were beyond the matricula consular
issue, but there it was again on
television. The same arguments, the same
questions, and the same ignorance still
prevailing.
Here are some
examples – Mexico is challenging our
sovereignty; issuing the cards is the
first step to making them (matricula
holders) legal; now the authorities will
accept the cards and next employers
– and so it went.
So what is a matricula
consular? The word ‘matricula’
is the equivalent for ‘identification
card.’ Consular meaning the ID card
is issued by a Mexican consulate. Mexican
consulates have been issuing matriculas
since they originated in 1871. To obtain
one a Mexican citizen must go to a
consulate nearest present residence, fill
out a form, have picture to imbed in the
ID, and prove he/she is a Mexican
citizen.
The consulate issued
ID does not, or even intends to, address
the legal status in the US of the bearer.
It simply identifies and proclaims the
bearer to be a Mexican citizen living
abroad. And that is the totality and
simplicity of what a ‘matricula
consular’ is.
So after such a long
time in existence why has it been thrust
into the spotlight?
The estimates are
that there may be as many as 5.5 million
Mexicans living in the US both legally or
illegally, the vast majority without any
identification. When receiving a paycheck
those without ID have to use check
cashing services paying high transaction
fees. Then to send money to families in Mexico,
additional high costs are incurred.
Consider – in 2001, Mexican
nationals remitted $9.3-billioin to Mexico
at a cost of nearly $1-billion. Plus, the
personal danger of carrying their money
with them, leading to assaults and in
some cases even murder.
With this in mind,
the Consul General of Mexico in Los
Angeles began a campaign to interest
banks in the potential of this huge
untapped market in need of banking
services. Well’s Fargo was the first
to recognized the potential, quickly
followed by BofA, Union, Washington
Mutual, City Bank and most other major
banks. What the banks would agree to do
was to accept the matricula as official
ID, which it was, allowing bearers to
open bank accounts. Plus they would
advertise the acceptance of the ID
inviting bearers to open accounts in
their banks.
Once the campaign
began it was a phenomenal success. In Los
Angeles alone over 50,000 IDs were issued
in a three month period. Throughout the US
people stood in line at Mexican
consulates for hours to obtain their
cards; banks were getting thousands of
new clients, and families in Mexico began
to receive more of the money as bank fees
are considerably lower. And now banks are
offering ATM service – a bank client
opens an account sending an ATM card to
his family in Mexico. Deposits are made
locally, withdrawals are made there
– quick and inexpensive.
But the stink being
made by the anti-Mexican groups is not so
much about the banks as it is about
cities and police departments also
accepting the IDs as official
identification. And this is just plain
downright silly, dumb and ignorant.
If we can understand
and accept that the Mexican government
has every right to issue an ID card to
its citizens, we can then begin to see
how silly the no-no-don’t-accept-it
sector is. So imagine with me – a
police officer stops a person for
jaywalking, the man produces the
matricula consular, the police officer
says, “No, I cannot accept this.
Show me some other form of ID, and make
it pronto.” “I don’t have
any other ID.” “Well since I
can’t accept this card and the name
in this card is not officially
recognized, who are you? And since the
address shown in the card is not
officially recognized, where do you live?
And from what country are you?”
According to the
anti-Mexican sector, what they would have
the officer do is arrest the jaywalker,
take him to jail and call the Border
Patrol so the person can be deported. Now
this may sound both reasonable and good
usage of police officers, but it’s
neither, and overwhelmingly police
departments agree.
First, the matricula
holder can be legally in the US, but not
a citizen and have the ID card. Then
comes the question of police officer’s
time – is it best spent protecting
citizens from real crime or is it good
usage of time to arrest anyone for the
slightest infraction? A petty crime, as
the jaywalking example, is best dealt
with an infraction in which case the ID
allows the issuance of the infraction and
a means to enforce the payment.
It should also be
understood that the matricula does not
exempt bearers from arrest for a crime,
but it does allow for easy
identification, and the knowledge that
the information pertaining to the person
is at the Mexican consulate. And since
9/11 it becomes even more imperative for
people to have identification.
As to the argument
that the matricula consular can be used
for employment, those employing such
bearers do so at their own risk, as
hiring undocumented workers is a Federal
offense, and an ID card that attests to
the bearer being a citizen of another
country should raise very strong doubts,
and be reason for requesting proof of
legal immigrant status as is required by
law.
So banks, cities,
and police departments accepting the
matricula consular as official
identification is plain and simple
nothing more and nothing less than
accepting the fact that it is just that
– and official ID card.
Patrick Osio, Jr.
is the Editor of HispanicVista.com, he
can be reached at posiojr@aol.com
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