The matricula consular is an identification card issued by the government of Mexico. An estimated million Mexicans living in the United States now carry the card, a great number of those being Mexican nationals illegally residing in the United States. Some Mexican officials view acceptance of the matricula consular as a stealth amnesty because it extends benefits to illegal migrants living in the United States that would otherwise only be available to legal immigrants and citizens.
Mexicans in thiscountry legally have either green cards, state driver's licenses, or passports/visas. They have no need of the matricula consular.
The governments of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have increased their efforts to provide identification cards to their nationals living illegally in the United States. At the same time, Mexican Consular offices have undertaken a massive lobbying effort to persuade local authorities in the United States to accept this documentation for identification purposes.
Some institutions in the United States have begun accepting these cards as a legal form of identification. Allowing foreign nationals living in the United States illegally to use these ID cards as a legal form of ID compromises national security and makes it easier for illegal migrants to live and work in the U.S.
On March 5, 2007, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Photo Identification Security Act (H.R. 1314), which would require financial institutions to accept only certain forms of identification for purposes of verifying the identity of an individual seeking to open an account. The bill also would limit the types of ID Federal agencies could accept for official purposes.
At the onset of 2007, in an attempt to expand its business among illegal aliens in this country, Bank of America announced that it would no longer require applicants for its credit cards and other banking services to submit valid Social Security numbers. For some time, it has been a common practice for banks to accept alternative forms of ID to open a checking account or even apply for a mortgage. Such practices would be prohibited if Rep. Blackburn’s legislation were to be enacted.
You can voice your concerns about Bank of America's ill-conceived policy to issue credit cards to illegal aliens by visiting the National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition's website that features an online petition to Bank of America, as well as a comprehensive list of U.S. banks that accept the Matricula Consular and may be soliciting illegal aliens as well.
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