Thread: IL: Mexican immigrants line up for IDs, passports [consulate

Mexican immigrants line up for IDs, passports

By Judy Masterson jmasterson@stmediatnetwork.com July 29, 2011 10:08PM



Maria Castrejon Toledo of Waukegan records her fingerprints while being assisted by consulate worker Ricardo Villasenor during a visit by the Mobile Mexican Consulate at the Belvidere Mall on Friday in Waukegan. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

Not Too late

The Mobile Mexican Consulate will revisit 2133 Belvidere Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Make an appointment by calling (877) 639-4835. Drop-ins will also be seen. For more information, visit www.consulmexchicago.com.


Updated: July 30, 2011 2:10AM


Two-year-old Jesse Daniel Gonzalez dropped his empty blue bottle then scrambled after it, giggling. Standing in a long line with his family in the old Belvidere Mall in Waukegan on Friday, he did not know his life was about to get better, more secure, and not just because he’s on the brink of potty training.

Once his dad, Daniel Gonzalez, 19, receives a Matricula ID — an identification card provided to Mexican nationals by the Mexican Consulate — the family can open a checking or savings account, register him for preschool, and should the police want to know, dad can prove who he is.

The Gonzalez family was among an expected 1,500 Mexican immigrants who stood in long lines to apply for and receive ID cards and passports during a four-day visit by the Mobile Mexican Consulate. The service, which spares applicants a trip to Chicago, runs through Sunday. The fee for an ID is $27. A three-year passport is $101.

More than 300 people on Thursday were assisted by eight consulate employees who were overseen by Enrique Munoz, consul for Mobile Consulate One. Mobile Consulate Two spent the day in Monmouth in western Illinois.

In some places across the country, mobile Mexican Consulates have been met by protests from Minutemen, a group that opposes illegal immigration. In 2002, the first year the mobile consulate visited Waukegan, two aldermen argued that the practice encouraged illegal immigration. The late 2nd Ward Alderman John Balen demanded the names and addresses of everyone who applied, which sparked protests by Mexican Americans that ended when City Hall instructed Waukegan police officers to recognize the IDs.

“The consulate is not under the U.S. government,â€

[quote]“The consulate is not under the U.S. government,â€

She can also show the ID when she picks up her daughter from school,

That's a new one. I've never heard of anyone having to show ID when they pick their own kids up from school.

Originally Posted by Mayday

She can also show the ID when she picks up her daughter from school,

That's a new one. I've never heard of anyone having to show ID when they pick their own kids up from school.

Yeah, the schools have metal detectors and young children can only be released to parents or designated babysitters. The joys of illegal immigration. No wonder the town is known as "Juankegan."

[quote]“The consulate is not under the U.S. government,â€

They aid and abet them right back to Mexico!

The ID card should not allow them to get anything but a trip backt o tacoland. If they are illegal then how about doing an ICE sweep of the line outside and hauling off any and all illegals they find.