Durham And The Matricula Consular Card =Action Alert

A recent article in the Durham News (http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2010/11/06/204300/council-to-consider-mexican-id.html), indicated that the Durham City Council is deciding whether to accept the Mexican matricula consular card as a legal form of identification. They will make a decision by November 15th. NCFIRE strongly opposes this acceptance of the matricula consular card as it is the leading "breeder" document towards identity theft and identity fraud. Those are not our words, but the words of the FBI, testifying before Congress on the matricula consular card: http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress03/mccraw062603.htm Their are other problems associated with the ID card as well including: 1) The matricula consular is useful in the United States only for illegal aliens, since legal immigrants, by definition, have U.S. government-issued documents. 2) The Mexican government has launched an aggressive grassroots lobbying campaign to win acceptance for its matricula card from state and local jurisdictions and from banks, especially in areas where Mexican illegal aliens are concentrated. 3) The objective of this lobbying effort is to achieve quasi-legal status for Mexican illegals in the United States without waiting for action from Washington. 4) The matricula itself, however, is useful to illegal aliens only insofar as U.S. institutions are willing to collaborate with Mexico's efforts to circumvent U.S. immigration law. 5) While many jurisdictions have resisted pressure from the Mexican government, others have not; the matricula is now accepted by 800 local law enforcement agencies and 74 banks, as well as by 13 states for purposes of obtaining a driver's license. 6) Not only does the matricula subvert U.S. immigration law, it is not even a secure identity document. Mexico is not authenticating the documents used to obtain the matricula against computerized data files in Mexico. 7) Safeguards are not in place to prevent multiple issuances of matriculas to the same individual; in fact, the INS has already reported finding multiple cards in different names issued to the same person. 8) The matricula is becoming a shield that hides criminal activity for two reasons: first, the holder's identity was not verified when the card was issued, and second, police in jurisdictions that accept the matricula are less likely to run background checks on card holders picked up for minor infractions. 9) The U.S. Treasury Department has given its approval to banks to accept the matricula for opening bank accounts. 10) The acceptance of Mexico's matricula consular sets a precedent, making it almost impossible to reject similar cards presented by illegal aliens from other countries, including those which have sent terrorists to the United States in the past. Please consider taking a few minutes to contact the Council members below and encourage them to reconsider the acceptance of the Mexican marticula consular card as a legal form of ID. Mayor: William V Bell, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/bell.cfm Mayor Pro Tem: Cora Cole-McFadden, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/cole.cfm Council Members: Farad Ali, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/ali.cfm Howard Clement III, Howard.Clement@durhamnc.gov Eugene A Brown, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/brown.cfm Diane Catotti, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/catotti.cfm Mike Woodard, http://www.durhamnc.gov/council/woodard.cfm Thank you, James Johnson President-NCFIRE www.NCFIRE.info www.Facebook.com/NCFIRE NCFIRE@ncfire.info 1-888-885-0879