Old ID Card Gives New Status to Mexicans in U.S.

Monday, August 25, 2003

By Rachel L. Swarns

New York Times Writer

Mexico began distributing the matrícula consular in the 1870's as a means of identifying and registering its citizens in the United States, officials say. For more than a century, the card was used to ensure that Mexican immigrants could receive consular assistance in dealing with American employers and police and help in shipping belongings home or relatives back for burial. The card was not typically used for dealing with American authorities. That changed after Sept. 11, 2001, as possession of a photo ID became a prerequisite for entering many office buildings and hospitals, for buying train tickets and wiring money and as states began considering barring illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses.

INDIANAPOLIS, In. -- NYT
For nearly a decade, Reynaldo Montes De Oca Suarez strived to be invisible. He melted in and out of crowds, ducking police officers and city officials. He flourished in the bustling anonymity of restaurant kitchens here, building a life as a cook amid the clattering plates and spitting frying pans.

But in recent months, Mr. Montes de Oca and other undocumented immigrants from Mexico have begun stepping out of the shadows. This summer, Indianapolis and seven other Midwestern cities started accepting an identity card issued by the Mexican government, offering Mexicans who are here illegally a startlingly new sense of legitimacy.

In East Chicago, Ind., immigrants with the Mexican identification card, known as the matrícula consular, can now borrow library books and arrange city water services. In Cincinnati, police officers accept the card from crime victims, witnesses and suspects.

In Indianapolis, immigrants carrying the matrícula card can apply for building licenses and permits to drive taxis and operate vending carts.

The card has been issued by the Mexican government for more than 100 years to keep track of its citizens in the United States. But across this country cities and states are increasingly recognizing the card, too, as officials seek ways to identify residents in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and try to better serve immigrants.

Many bankers, merchants and politicians have also embraced the card, whose name translates to consular registration, hoping to appeal to the growing number of Hispanic consumers and voters.

The shift has been accompanied by a rising outcry, particularly among some Republicans in Congress, who argue that the widening acceptance of the card is creating a de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants.

In March 2002, only a handful of cities and banks recognized the matrícula card, Mexican officials say. Today, more than 100 cities, 900 police departments, 100 financial institutions and 13 states, including Indiana, New Mexico and Utah, accept the cards, which carry the bearer's photo, name and address and are issued by Mexican consulates to Mexicans regardless of their immigration status.

Emboldened by the changing climate, Mr. Montes de Oca recently carried his card into the red brick offices of National City Bank, which started wooing undocumented immigrants with matrícula cards last year.

Within minutes, he had his first checking account and debit card.
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Dan