Mexican ID cards caught in growing debate
Federal authorities warn that 'matriculas' are not reliable
By Michael Riley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 10, 2002The Mexican Consulate in Denver presents its new "matricula consular" ID as a more secure identification for immigrants, and an increasing number of police departments around the state agree.
But 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. It was his picture, issued through the consulate," said Scott Weber, deputy director for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Denver.
"Our one worry is that this gives someone whose intentions are bad one genuine piece of identification," Weber said of the cards. "From that they might get a library card, they might get a hospital ID. It's the first step to establishing an identity here."
The $29 cards have been caught up in a growing debate since the city of Denver announced last week that it would begin accepting them as official identification for obtaining everything from a library card to a building permit.
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.
After the city's announcement, the popularity of the cards, which require a Mexican birth certificate and one other picture ID, has exploded. Lines of applicants for the IDs have snaked a half-block around the consulate office in Cherry Creek, and officials have run out of application forms.
Acceptance of the card is spreading to other Colorado cities, officially or otherwise, partly because police departments see it as a safe form of ID among a population that is often difficult to identify.
"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.
Other police agencies are not waiting for city approval before accepting the cards.
Adams County sheriff's deputies accept the card as a positive ID under most circumstances, said department spokesman Sgt. Michael McIntosh. The department looks only for confirmation that the bearer is charged with a serious crime.
Lakewood police have been accepting the card as official identification for several months.
"Is it 100 percent accurate? Probably not," said Chief Ron Burns. "But it seems to be the best we have."
Advocates of the card, which the consulate began issuing in July, say that it provides Mexican immigrants a way to better function in a society where they contribute with their labor but are often excluded from obtaining even basic services.
Since their inception, the cards have been increasingly accepted by banks, including two major chains in Colorado, when immigrants seek to open checking accounts. More than 40 cities nationwide already accept the cards as official ID - including Oakland, San Francisco and Houston - and the California legislature this year passed a resolution urging other cities to follow suit.
The card can't be used as a driver's license or to get a job. And advocates say that legally, there is no difference between a Colorado police officer accepting the matricula or accepting a foreign passport to positively establish identity.
"There has been a wide acceptance of the card in cities across the country because clearly there is a benefit to police departments and others knowing who they are dealing with," said Linton Joaquin, an attorney for the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles. "That's all it does."