Thread: ALIPAC: NC House OKs Mexican ID ban

House OKs Mexican ID ban

March 31, 2011

By Ray Gronberg
Durham Herald Sun


DURHAM -- N.C. House members voted 66-50 Wednesday to pass and send to the state Senate a bill that would bar local and state officials from accepting the Mexican government's matricula consular and documents like it as valid ID.

The margin was short of what supporters would need to muster to override a gubernatorial veto, should one be forthcoming if the bill clears the Senate.

Republicans lined up solidly in favor, but House Democrats were against it 50-1. A veto override takes three-fifths of the members present and voting, 72 votes in the House if all 120 members participate. The GOP in a full chamber is four votes short of holding a veto-proof majority.

Wednesday's vote came four months after Durham's City Council voted unanimously to endorse the city Police Department's practice of accepting the matricula. The bill's wording would explicitly override that decision.

Supporters of the anti-matricula bill discounted assurances from Mexican diplomats that the ID, issued to Mexicans living abroad, is reliable proof of the bearer's identity.

One of the bill's chief sponsors, N.C. Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, told fellow legislators that the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice regard the document as being "highly susceptible to fraud."

"Who do you believe is protecting American's values, the Mexican consulate … or the FBI, the Justice Department or the TSA?" Hager said, including the federal Transportation Security Administration in the list of agencies legislators should look to for guidance.

Hager's mention of the FBI alluded to testimony a mid-ranking agency official gave to Congress in 2003.

The card is nonetheless accepted by a variety of government agencies in this country, including the Internal Revenue Service, Mexico's consul general for the Carolinas, Carlos Flores-Vizcarra, told members of a House committee earlier this month.

Opposition to the matricula is a major cause for groups who say they oppose illegal immigration, such as Americans for Legal Immigration, based in Raleigh. They contend that the card merely serves to legitimize illegal immigrants.

Democrats, however, said law-enforcement groups have been conspicuously silent about the bill. That, to them, lent credence to the idea that accepting it isn't really a problem.

"We ought to be hearing it from the horse's mouth, or [GOP legislators] ought to be giving us the documents they say support their arguments -- neither of which has occurred," said N.C. Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange. "If all those folks show up and say this is a problem that needs to be addressed and this is a correct solution for it, I'll take the next step and vote for [the bill]."

Faison tried to have the bill sent back to committee, but Republicans blocked that on a party-line decision. Come the final vote, the only legislator to cross the aisle was N.C. Rep. Tim Spear, D-Washington, who voted for passage.

Two Republicans, N.C. Reps. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus, and Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, switched positions on Wednesday. They'd voted against the bill in a preliminary ballot the day before.

That got them a denunciation from Americans for Legal Immigration, which on its website branded the pair "traitor Republicans." The group also lumped Spear in with Democrats it said had voted to stand "with illegal alien invaders."

One of the bill's opponents, N.C. Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, blasted the group during Wednesday's floor debate. He termed its criticism of Barnhart and McComas "despicable" and "an attack from the very margins of society."

Glazier also denounced the bill in no uncertain terms, calling it an "ugly, ugly" piece of legislation.

All Durham and Orange county House members -- all Democrats -- voted against the bill.

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_stor ... efirstleft

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Immigrant ID bill draws fiery rebuttal
March 31, 2011
Raleigh News and Observer

wo hot-button bills cleared the state House of Representatives as expected Wednesday, but not without impassioned, last-ditch efforts to stop them.

The proposal to remove a Mexican consulate document as an acceptable form of identification passed 66-50 and is headed to the Senate. But as the opposition went down in flames, Rep. Rick Glazier, a Democrat from Fayetteville, denounced the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC for its "deceitful and hurtful and prejudicial comments."

ALIPAC, which supports the bill, issued a statement praising the House for its vote Tuesday, saying it "set a national precedent." It went on to criticize the "two traitor" Republicans who voted with Democrats to oppose the bill: Rep. Daniel McComas of Wilmington and Rep. Jeff Barnhart of Concord. It also called Barnhart a "sellout."

"The First Amendment is not a suicide pact," Glazier said. "It does not require that we stand silent ... to those that attack us at the margins of society.

"Whether on the merits, the honor of our colleagues, preservation of the institution, I hope some of us change our vote today," he said. "It's an ugly, ugly bill."

Similarly, the bill allowing concealed handguns in restaurants where alcohol is served and in parks by people with permits passed 74-42, and goes to the Senate. Wake County Democrats Rep. Deborah Ross and Rep. Darren Jackson argued against the bill to the end.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/31/ ... fiery.html

added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article6195.html

Congratulations to ALIPAC, NC Fire, and NC Listen for fighting for your state and lets hope that sets a precedent

Lower House rejects North Carolina Mexican document
Published: 3/30/1911 at 7:38 a.m.

AP Writer
AOL News



RALEIGH, North Carolina, USA - A photo identification card to give Mexican consulates no longer be an acceptable document for dealings with the police, the judiciary and the state government of North Carolina, according to a draft law approved on Tuesday in principle by the state House.

The initiative, led discussions on the floor of the House of Representatives debate on immigration and the rise of the Hispanic population in the state's workforce, challenges to the "matricula consular" that Mexicans can receive during their stay in United States .

According to the government of Mexico, the matricula consular is a document, regardless of immigration status, can be used to prove someone is Mexican and lives in the United States.

The card would be removed from a list of acceptable documents to establish residency in North Carolina to get driver's license, get insurance to enter the service road or Medicaid health care to the poor.

Nor would it be accepted by local governments, and the ban would also apply to cards issued in other countries similar to their citizens in the U.S..

The FBI believes that the matricula consular is a questionable document, said Rep. Mike Hager, one of the main promoters of the initiative. Security Administration Transportation not included in this document among those that can be displayed in a checkpoint and when boarding a flight.

Critics of a flexible policy on illegal immigration say that there are counterfeit cards that are used by illegal immigrants in the country.

The matricula consular "not worth the paper and plastic that is printed," said Rep. George Cleveland, one of the promoters, before the project was approved in principle by 64 votes to 53. "Basically, whoever wants one, can accomplish."

Opponents of the initiative said that the cards issued by Mexican consulates, like the one in Raleigh, are accredited documents, recalling the statements made last week by the Consul General of Mexico in the Carolinas before a commission. The removal of cards from the list hurt the relations between the state and many countries, several speakers warned during the debate.

"The Mexican consul spoke several times that this is a valid ID card," said Rep. Paul Luebke. "We are telling the Mexican government ... we reject the acts of his government."

Possible crimes with the card does not seem a big problem in the state, because state officials did not attend the committee to support the project, noted Rep. Bill Faison.

Two Republicans, Jeff Barnhart and Danny McComas, voted against.

The full House to decide on the initiative, before it is sent to the Senate.

http://noticias.aollatino.com/2011/03/3 ... del-norte/

Anyone have any ideas on how the Senate will vote or what the Gov. will do should it reach her desK?

Wonderful news!

Each State should entact the ID ban law as well.

Originally Posted by Mickey

Anyone have any ideas on how the Senate will vote or what the Gov. will do should it reach her desK?

Bev Perdue is the one who worries me, she has always supported the invaders here in NC. She did it as Lt. Governor under Sleasley ( Easley) and has continued to do so as Governor.

After all the hard work William et al have done in NC I hope she will NOT veto it, but I have my doubts if she will just sign it. She will be committing political suicide if she vetoes it because she is mighty unpopular now, this will just piss more people off if she does veto it. It would be spitting in the face of not only the public but the State lawmakers too!