Friday, 03/09/07

Mexican consulate plans to distribute ID cards that Blackburn opposes

The Associated Press


MEMPHIS — The Mexican Consulate in Atlanta plans to distribute on Saturday identity cards that a Tennessee Congressman is trying to prohibit for use in opening bank accounts.

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood., introduced legislation this week that would ban the use of a matricula consular card as part of the identification need to open a bank account and get credit cards.

The mobile consulate will be in Memphis this weekend, where it expects to dispense 300 cards and about 100 new or renewed passports to Mexican citizens that can establish nationality and current residency in Tennessee.

Bank of America Corp. has been criticized after announcing plans to test out a credit card available to customers who may be illegal immigrants.

"The Mexican government continues to encourage illegal immigration and thumbing their collective noses at the rule of U.S. law by passing out these matricular cards," Blackburn said in a statement Thursday. "Legal immigrants don't need the matricular card, only illegals do. By issuing these cards, on U.S. soil and in broad daylight, the Mexican Consulate shows no remorse in encouraging illegals to break the law."

Banks can accept a variety of forms of identification authorized by the Patriot Act and U.S. Treasury regulations depending on their assessment of risk.

"(Banks) are in the risk business all the time," said John Mueller, chairman of national security studies at Ohio State University. "If they find that people using certain kinds of ID are very high risk, they'll either charge more or just not accept it. But I don't see why you'd need legislation to do it."

Blackburn, whose districts stretches from the Memphis suburbs to Nashville, said she filed the bill because she is concerned there is danger to financial institutions that take those forms of identification.

"Our preference would be to see the Mexican government join us in securing our borders and protecting the sovereignty of our two nations," Blackburn said.

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