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Mexican ID card being issued in Richmond
Mexican Consulate is helping residents with paperwork
BY JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Sunday, July 30, 2006


The Mexican Consulate has set up shop this weekend in South Richmond, where it is expecting to issue about 600 documents.

One of the documents being issued to Mexican nationals who stop by the temporary office at Ramsey Memorial United Methodist Church is the controversial consular identification, or matrcula consular, as it is known in Spanish.

Four years ago, the consular card was the focus of heated debate.

That controversy is dying down as the document is gaining acceptance, said Consul General Enrique Escorza.

Four million consular cards have been issued since 2002, he said. About 40 banks and 250 police departments around the country accept the document as a valid form of identification, he said.

Mexico has been issuing consular cards since 1871 to nationals who reside in the United States.

Guatemala also issues consular cards.

Bearers of the consular card are often undocumented.

The consular card has a picture, name, signature, date and place of birth and U.S. address of the bearer. This card allows authorities to know the holder's identification.

"This is an invaluable document contributing to the safety of the community," said Escorza, who is based in Washington.

Identity documents became a necessity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Mexican government redesigned the consular card and began a large distribution campaign in 2002.

Opponents of illegal immigration have criticized financial institutions such as Bank of America, BB&T and Wachovia for accepting the document as valid identification for people opening bank accounts. They see it as a reward to lawbreakers.

The Homeland Security Department and the State Department have taken issue with the reliability of the document.

The U.S. Treasury Department approved it in 2002.

"It's a reliable document," Consul General Escorza said.

The government works very hard to make the document counterfeit-proof, he said. It has 17 visible and invisible security features, he said.

Escorza said that with these security features, police can easily detect a legitimate consular identification from a fake. He often hands out plastic testers that, when put over a card, reveal imprinted features, including the person's name over the picture.

"A person cannot take the picture from a card and replace it with another one because it wouldn't have those features," he said.

Applicants need a birth certificate, an official document with a picture and proof of residence in the United States. The consulate also takes fingerprints of applicants.

The staff has access to a central database in Mexico through a high-speed Internet connection to check every applicant's record.

"I wouldn't fear any of these people here," Escorza said, pointing to a group of applicants. "We don't have terrorists here. We don't have criminals here."

Erick Cevallos, a Richmond house painter, came with his wife, Claudia Contreras, and their 6-month-old son to apply for consular cards and passports.

"I need [the consular card] to get my son's birth certificate and to open a bank account," Cevallos said. "Having cash at home is dangerous."


Contact staff writer Juan Antonio Lizama at jlizama@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6513.