Editor’s note: Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin is an online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com – a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for the last 25 years.
Emulating Mexico’s controversial “matricula consular” card, at least five nations are instituting or considering instituting new identification cards for their citizens visiting the United States – including those visiting illegally.
An increasing number of state and local governments are making it much harder for authorities looking for verifiable IDs. These governments are accepting, for the disbursement of services, identification issued by foreign governments – most notably Mexico – creating what some critics see as a security nightmare while America is still consumed in a war on terrorism.
Mexico with its “matricula consular” was the first country to successfully push local and state governments into accepting its ID card.
Guatemala, after waiting to see whether the United States would balk at Mexico’s aggressive efforts, has begun issuing its own alien ID card. Peru is promising to follow suit in a few months, and other countries, like China, are considering issuing their own cards, according to G2 Bulletin sources. Honduras and El Salvador are also considering the idea.
But the new plans come amid rising concerns about the Mexican ID – a credit-card sized document that a substantial number of government agencies and companies are accepting when people want to do things such as open bank accounts or get a driver’s license.
Critics say the IDs – available at Mexican and Guatemalan consulates – are sought by illegal immigrants because they make it easier for them to remain in the United States. A bill introduced by Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., would prohibit federal agencies from recognizing identification documents unless they were issued by federal or state authorities.
The cards identify people as citizens of a particular country, but they don’t specify the person’s immigration status, and consulates don’t ask them for it when they apply.
Last year, M?xico issued more than 1 million of its IDs in the United States. They were accepted by 74 banks, 13 states and 800 police agencies, according to the Mexican government.
Wells Fargo Bank estimates it has opened about 70,000 new accounts since November 2001 using the Mexican ID. The bank also recognizes Guatemala’s ID.
Guatemala issued about 32,000 of its new IDs between mid-August – when it began offering them – and December.
In about two months, the Peruvian consulate in New York intends to begin a pilot program to issue its new ID cards, said deputy consul general Alejandro Ugarte. If successful, the program will be expanded around the world, he said.
The Honduran embassy is waiting for authorization from its foreign affairs ministry to begin issuing IDs.
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