More madness from our local catholic church.

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Waiting for matricula consular
Mexican officials issue identification
By KATE BRASER, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7622 or braserk@courierpress.com
Sunday, April 1, 2007


Photo by Denny Simmons

Mexican national Camilo Malaga poses for his identification picture at Nativity Catholic Church on Saturday.
The parking lot of Evansville's Nativity Church on Pollack Avenue was full Saturday, and people spilled out of the building and onto the sidewalks.

They were awaiting a turn to visit with Mexican Consulate officials who traveled here from Indianapolis to issue consular identification cards and passports.

The local stop was the consulate's first of 11 scheduled throughout the region this year.

Alfonso Vidal, president of the Evansville-based Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans (HOLA), helped organize the event, which brought the Mexican consulate to Evansville for a second time.

He said the visit made it more convenient for Mexican residents living here to get consulate identification cards, called matricula consular, and passports.

Matricula consular are issued by the Mexican government through its consulate offices. The card's official purpose is to prove the owner is a Mexican national living outside of Mexico, but some businesses, banks and social service agencies now accept the cards as an official form of identification.

The practice of U.S. businesses accepting the cards has become a controversial issue because of concerns about national security and because many of the people who use the cards are reportedly not in this country legally. Martin Alcala, acting consul at the Mexican Consulate in Indianapolis, said the consular identification cards help consulate officials know where their services are needed, based on how many are issued in certain areas.

"It helps form a database for us," he said.

He said people who have matricula consular are able to obtain legal and other services through the Mexican Consulate.

Fifth Third Bank was among a few local businesses who set up booths in the church basement.

"We are encouraging Mexican residents here to open bank accounts rather than keep all their cash on them," said Vidal.

He cited a recent string of incidents where Hispanic residents were repeatedly targeted and robbed as a reason why they should keep their money in a bank.

Vidal estimated more than 500 people showed up from Indiana and surrounding states beginning at 8 a.m. Many of those people waited about two hours for their passports and matricula consular.

Consulate officials planned to issue about 300 matricula consular and about 100 passports here during their visit, he said.

Technical problems with a laminating machine caused long waits in the morning.

Vidal also said organizers anticipated having time for about 490 appointments, but it seemed more people had shown up than expected.

"We did have to turn away some people due to time constraints," Vidal said.

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