Thread: AZ-Police in Ariz. may stop accepting Mexican ID card

Police in Ariz. may stop accepting Mexican ID card
27 comments
Jun. 5, 2009 01:33 PM
by Michael Ferraresi -


A recent legal review revealed a Mexican identification card issued to more than 231,000 people in the Valley fails to meet Arizona traffic law, leaving some immigrant motorists subject to arrest during routine stops.

While the Mexican government billed the matricula consular card as a secure document for U.S. transplants, police agencies said the card is invalid - the difference between a civil citation and a criminal charge in some cases.

Phoenix city attorneys reviewed the details of the matricula card after Mexican diplomats pushed for a police department policy that would require officers to accept the ID, which appears like a driver's license.
Attorneys said officers are unable to read biometric information - such as height, weight and eye color - encoded on the back of the card. According to Arizona state law, a driver who fails to provide evidence of their identity could be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said officers have the discretion to make an arrest if they feel they cannot identify a subject based on the matricula card alone.

"It serves very little purpose," Pacheco said. "I can see the Mexican government's and Mexican Consulate's attempt to provide something for their citizens . . . but you have to be careful not to interpret it as a legal document."

Carlos Flores Vizcarra, the consul general of Mexico in Phoenix, said officers in the past routinely ticketed and released drivers stopped for minor traffic violations who showed a matricula card in lieu of a driver's license.

But as public pressure to crack down on illegal immigration has intensified, officers have become less inclined to accept the card, Flores Vizcarra said. As a result, more Mexican drivers stopped for minor traffic infractions are being arrested, booked into Maricopa County jails and deported, he said.

In 2003, an FBI official told a congressional panel that the matricula card is primarily used by illegal immigrants. The FBI also concluded applicants could forge birth certificates and other documents to obtain one.

Phoenix police Cmdr. Glen Gardner said even though the Mexican government updated the matricula card in September, patrol officers were never provided with devices to scan or read the encoded material on the back - something that would require U.S. law enforcement agencies access to the Mexican government databases, he said.

"I would venture that they're frustrated that the card isn't being accepted in Arizona the way they would like," said Gardner, who helped design Operations Order 1.4 immigration enforcement policy one year ago, which gave Phoenix officers discretion to contact federal authorities when they encounter people they suspect are in the country illegally.

Gardner said Phoenix officials agreed to accept the matricula card as a form of ID after it was introduced in 2002, though officers have always had the discretion to judge a person's identification.

The argument frustrated some advocates, who feared that officers could unfairly target undocumented immigrants even though they provide a form of government-approved ID.

"It's ignorant of departments not to accept that person's (matricula card)," said Edward Valenzuela, an Arizona-based senior policy advisor for the National Latino Peace Officers Association.

"The standard police on the beat doesn't need to be a document expert to determine which is real, which is not real."

www.azcentral.com

The argument frustrated some advocates, who feared that officers could unfairly target undocumented immigrants even though they provide a form of government-approved ID.

"It's ignorant of departments not to accept that person's (matricula card)," said Edward Valenzuela, an Arizona-based senior policy advisor for the National Latino Peace Officers Association.

Government-approved? ROLF!!!! Which government are we talking about? Mexico? THEY don't accept the "matricula" card, why in hell should we?!?!?!

I agree, the Matricular card should not be accepted the America.

Mexico says this card is so fraudulent that they will not accept it as a form of ID - so I agree - why would we?

A-hahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahhahahha
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A-hahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahhahahha


That will free up some jobs now won't it!

Originally Posted by miguelina

The argument frustrated some advocates, who feared that officers could unfairly target undocumented immigrants even though they provide a form of government-approved ID.

"It's ignorant of departments not to accept that person's (matricula card)," said Edward Valenzuela, an Arizona-based senior policy advisor for the National Latino Peace Officers Association.

Government-approved? ROLF!!!! Which government are we talking about? Mexico? THEY don't accept the "matricula" card, why in hell should we?!?!?!

of course edward is going to say it should be accepted.
only for Edward to further help with the illegal alien invasion of the US

WELLWELL LOOKY what I found.

http://www.aznlpoa.org/id13.html

Dr. Ed Valenzuela
dredv@aol.com

Arizona NLPOA * P. O. Box 1551 * Phoenix, AZ * 85001
Pager: 602-440-5601

Driving with a Matricula Card? What! Does that mean they don't have to pass a driving test, be able to read signs, pass an eye exam, get finger printed, photo taken... before being granted the privilage of driving in AZ?

Dixie

Oh, Dixie, they are just the poor, illiterate, uneducated that came here for a better life and to drop anchor babies so they would not be deported. They probably did a great job driving the mule in their home country, but since we do not seem to allow mules on our roads they need another means of transportation to the jobs they have taken from Americans and legal emigres.
The matricula consular card is nothing more, IMO, than the support of the Mexican government for their citizens here illegally, because were they legal on a visa that would be all the proof they would need.

By even accepting this card, is that not a violation of federal and state law?

Originally Posted by Dixie

Driving with a Matricula Card? What! Does that mean they don't have to pass a driving test, be able to read signs, pass an eye exam, get finger printed, photo taken... before being granted the privilage of driving in AZ?

Dixie

That's what I was wondering. Nice, that the police have just been assuming that someone with a matricula card can drive, and knows about traffic laws in the U.S. I assume they also don't pay our insane registration fees, they don't have to go through emmissions, our new traffic cameras can't read their Mexican plates, so they can get away with speeding, and when they hit & run, the police can't even find out who they are, or where they live, because they are registered in Mexico. Really nice.

They didn't pay the fee to drive either. I pay over $20 for my piece of plastic with a picture.

We shouldn't be bending and breaking our laws to placate Mexico.

Dixie