Legislative News from FAIR

California Legislators Seek Statewide Recognition of Mexican Consular ID

While federal and state governments are working to enact stronger enforcement and verification laws, two California legislators are attempting to take California further in the opposite direction by enacting legislation officially sanctioning the matricula consular, a Mexican identification card that raises questions over national security issues and which would allow thousands of illegal aliens to access state services and benefits.

In late February, California State Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) introduced Senate Bill 461, which calls for permitting state-licensed notaries to accept the matricula consular to execute property transfers and perform other legal transactions. Correa, who is “confident” about the card’s security features, insists that his bill is intended to promote commerce and parallels recent decisions by several national bank chains to accept the card as proof of identification. Meanwhile, California Assemblyman Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) has introduced Assembly Bill 442, which is almost identical to Senate Bill 461. Arambula justifies recognition of the matricula consular on the basis that it is “a very difficult document to obtain,” is a more secure form of identification than the California driver’s license, and is currently already accepted at the county level in California. (Orange County Register, March 2, 2009).

Despite Correa and Arambula’s claims of reliability, evidence from federal law enforcement indicates that the matricula consular is actually vulnerable to fraud and misuse, and could lead to national security breaches. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Steve McCraw, former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Office of Intelligence (FBI), testified that the Mexican government’s matricula consular issuance process is decentralized, uncontrolled, and standardless. McCraw further stated that the ease with which the cards can be forged and obtained renders them ideal tools for potential terrorists, who could use them to move undetected and open bank and credit card accounts without raising red flags. (Steve McCraw, testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security, and Claims on Consular Identification Cards, June 26, 2003). The FBI’s criticism of the matricula consular mirrors some of the concerns of the 9/11 Commission, which recommended that the federal, state, and local governments move toward a process of accepting more secure — not less secure — forms of identification. (9/11 Commission Report, p. 390).