CLINIC - Advocacy Issues & Programs

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CONSULAR IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS

The Matricula Consular is a secure, consular identification card issued by the Mexican
government to Mexican nationals living in the United States. Often, such consular
identification cards are the only form of identification available to millions of immigrants
residing in the United States. Consular identification cards do not provide evidence of
immigration status, only identity. They cannot be used to obtain immigration or
citizenship benefits such as work authorization, and they cannot be used to avoid
deportation. Many legal immigrants rely on consular identification cards because they
do not have a passport or other form of picture identification. Although the cards
enhance public safety and security, anti-immigrant groups have opposed their
acceptance.

Consular Identification Cards Enhance Security and Safety

Lack of identification can contribute to crime, homelessness, and other problems.
Immigrants who work in the United States wire billions of dollars home every year.
Undocumented immigrants who cannot access banks have traditionally been exposed
to high rates of theft and robbery. Access to banks reduces crime by allowing
immigrants to safely deposit money, and not carry large amounts of cash on their
person. In addition, with access to financial institutions, undocumented immigrants are
less likely to fall prey to black market scams on money transfers. In order to buy or rent
a home, an individual must be able to establish a credit rating. It is nearly impossible to
establish a credit rating without a bank account.

In an increasingly security-conscious society, it is imperative that people have the
ability to identify themselves to authorities. Millions of undocumented immigrants are
unable to obtain valid identification through the U.S. government. A consular
identification card provides a secure identifier. Restrictions recently implemented in
many states that have curtailed the ability of immigrants to obtain driver's licenses or
valid state-issued photo identification, coupled with a post 9/11- heightened need
among law enforcement officials to identify non-citizens, have led to an increase in the
demand for and acceptance of consular identification documents in the United States.

Efforts to Restrict the Use of Consular Identification Documents

In April 2003, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued final regulations regarding
section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Those regulations allowed banks and other
financial institutions to decide what documents they would accept as proof of identity
before opening a bank account. Following the implementation of the final regulations,
several banks and financial institutions announced the acceptance of Mexican
matriculas as proof of identity. This was an important breakthrough for non-citizens
whose only form of identification was a consular identification card.

In July 2003, under pressure from a Congressman opposed to bank acceptance of
consular identification cards, the Treasury Department asked for additional comments
about the final rule. CLINIC sent an action alert to its affiliates urging them to weigh in
on the issue by registering their comments on the U.S. Treasury website. On
September 18, 2003, the Treasury Department announced that it would not seek
regulatory changes restricting the ability of financial institutions to accept consular
identification cards. According to the Treasury Department Press Release "[a]fter
reviewing over 34,000 comments, Treasury found that no new information had been
presented that had not been considered prior to issuing the final rules." It also found
that "the risk-based approach taken by the final rules, combined with the ability to
notify financial institutions if concerns arise with specific identification documents,
provide an ample mechanism to address any security concerns." Treasury reported
that of the comments it received on the consular identification card issue, 82 percent
requested no change in the final regulation.

Solution

Although hundreds of localities across the United States accept the Mexican matricula
consular as a form of proper identification, legislation has been introduced that would
prohibit federal entities from accepting any form of identification that was not issued by
a federal or state authority. Because consular identification cards can only be used to
establish identity and not immigration status, state and city governments, financial
institutions, law enforcement agencies, schools, employers and others should not be
prohibited from accepting them.

As Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) Committee on Migration has stated, "Acceptance of consular identification
cards by financial institutions helps to protect the rights and dignity of the
undocumented by providing access to some of the essentials of living and working
with dignity in the United States. Denying hard working immigrants access to bank
accounts will not make us safer as a country, but it will hurt those immigrants by
making them more vulnerable to robbery, exploitative lending practices, and exclusion
from the benefits of a credit record. It would be a flawed and ineffective means of
combating terrorism and regulating our nation's immigration policies." (See USCCB
press release of August 5, 2003).

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