EXCLUSIVE: The overlooked terrorist danger:
 THE MEXICAN ID CARD THAT COULD BE AN ASSAULT ON US IMMIGRATION LAW -- AND AN AID TO TERRORISTS

         The Mexican government has begun widely issuing identification cards to Mexican nationals under the guise of consular protection, but the card appears to have little use except to thwart US immigration policies --and it could offer entree to terrorists.

         Called the Matricula Consular, the cards have been issued to Mexican citizens for years, but recent alterations in the way the cards are distributed indicate a covert attempt to aid undocumented aliens inside the US in illegally gaining benefits usually reserved for US citizens.

       The card, which includes a photograph of the bearer along with a hologram for authenticity and a logo for the Mexican government (with a US address), is traditionally issued to Mexican nationals who travel abroad and want to establish their nation of origin for official purposes.

        The card does little more than establish Mexico as the bearer's home; it confers no legal rights outside of Mexico and is recognized only inside Mexico or by Mexican representatives in other nations, including the US.

        But it's the look of the card that is confusing to Americans, and illegal aliens have begun presenting the card as a way to establish identity for the purpose of buying or renting homes and cars, getting jobs and applying for drivers licenses, social security cards and social services such as Aid to Dependent Children and Medicaid.

         Using the cards, illegal aliens have been establishing bank accounts and have been transferring money, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

          The Mexican government, Stein says, obviously knows it's helping its citizens skirt US immigration law by indiscriminately handing out the cards to any Mexican citizen who pays about US $20 to "secure" the card; but there is suspicion by many that a black market exists and there is anecdotal evidence that Mexican "officials" are hawking the cards at border crossings, sometimes at premium prices.

        "Since he took office, Mexican President Vicente Fox has taken Mexico out of the closet, so to speak," Stein recently told an audience. "It's becoming more obvious that he's doing what he can to get as many Mexican citizens as possible across the border into the United States."

         The cards were recently used in a pilot program in the San Francisco area, in which California Senator Nancy Pelosi helped establish acceptance of the Matricula Consular as proof to the state of California of legal Mexican citizenship and, additionally, guest status in the United States. Bearers were entitled to limited state services.

         A public outcry in California and elsewhere has ended that program after only a few weeks, but the program only reflected the policies of some private companies that were established months and even in some cases years ago.
         
        Critics of Pelosi's California plan note the political ramifications of the program: Latinos are the fastest-growing minority population in the US (recent US Census Bureau statistics can be interpreted to show that Latinos are already the largest minority here) and therefore are being courted by both political parties for future electoral strength.

        Republicans have made great inroads in attracting Latino voters, especially since Spanish-speaking President George W. Bush has been subtly pressing the issue.

        But Latinos have traditionally leaned toward the Democratic party and Democrats are making it clear they plan to keep Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal, in their political camp. Hence the Pelosi program (Pelosi was recently named US House Minority Leader).

         Although the Matricula Consular confers no legal rights to Mexicans in the United States, recognition of the card by anyone in the US, even government agencies, is an invitation to legal challenges, especially since use of the cards in the US under any circumstances has not been scrutinized in court or by legislatoin and there are few if any legal precedents.

         Some politicians have said the cards are a step forward because they allow illegal aliens to establish identity without having to resort to forging identity documents to obtain a home, car, employment or social services; but again, there is anecdotal evidence that the cards are available in unspecified quantities to any individual in Mexico who is willing to ante up the $20 or more required for each card.

          So far evidence is only anecdotal because there is no governmental or private investigation into how the cards are obtained in Mexico.

          Critics also point out that issuance of the card is not made under strict guidelines in Mexico; it's therefore possible for a Mexican citizen to create multiple identities using multiple cards simply by purchasing them from officials or on the black markets, take the cards into the US and establish a large number of identities here, too -- if the card were accepted at the right places, such as banks, social services and employment bureaus.

           More ominously, it's therefore possible that, if positive citizenship in Mexico isn't established before issuing Matriculas Consular, then anyone could get one or more of the cards and bring them into the US to present as a valid ID.

           Even terrorists from any foreign nation -- especially terrorists who look as though they could be Latino and who perhaps even speak Spanish.

           After all, an FBI investigation continues today into how many of the 9/11 hijackers attempted to establish their US identities by obtaining fake drivers' licenses; had they come in from Mexico and been able to convince state agencies or DMVs of their authoritative use of Matriculas Consular, they might have been able to obtain legal US state drivers' licenses with little resistance.
           
           "When you think about," Stein says, "it all comes down to money, like everything else. Businesses who hire undocumented workers would like to have those workers have established identities," -- so there'd be no trouble from immigration authorities -- but not have the political clout that legal status would infer, such as ability to demand rising wages.

            At most, the Matricula Consular, therefore, establishes nothing more than that the bearer may be a Mexican citizen presenting a Mexican identity card, and a questionable one at that. The cards' worth as any kind of legal documentation should be highly suspect under any conditions -- and an invitation to lawsuits. After all, many of the cards appear to be issued under unsupervised circumstances, and the legal nature of their use in the US (beyond simple unconfirmed foreign IDs that establish no rights or privileges in the US) is nebulous.

            But at worst, the cards present a very real danger of presenting an entree into the US for terrorists. The kind of loophole the US doesn't need at this already dangerous time.
            
-- Mike Shiloh