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Ark. candidates criticize Mexican matricula cards


By JON GAMBRELL
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 9:46 AM CDT

LITTLE ROCK - Identification cards provided by the Mexican government for citizens of that country who are in the U.S. are drawing criticism from two Arkansas Republican candidates, and one of them questioned plans to open a Mexican consulate at Little Rock.

Jim Holt, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, and Gunner DeLay, its nominee for attorney general, said the Mexican government's Matricula Consular cards were being abused by illegal immigrants. Although the state's new consul says the cards are secure, both DeLay and Holt want assurances from the consulate on how the cards will be issued.

"We want it to be written they are going to guarantee there is not going to be any abuse of IDs," Holt said at a joint news conference Monday.

Asked if the state shouldn't have a Mexican consulate in Little Rock, Holt said, "We're going to look into that a little further."

Mexican consulates issue the Matricula Consular cards to its citizens living outside of the country to use as identification. The laminated cards include a photograph of the individual, a government seal and hologram image. Any Mexican citizen can receive one at a consulate by showing a birth certificate and other identifying documents proving they Mexican residency.

Those with Matricula Consular cards can use them to apply for accounts at certain banks and commercial institutions. Some states allow the cards to be used when applying for driver's licenses.

But since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, some law enforcement officials say the Matricula Consular program provides identification without adequately checking a person's identity. They also criticized the program for not having a centralized database.

Holt and DeLay campaigned across the state Monday and Tuesday to protest illegal immigration. On Monday, DeLay said federal agents had arrested "illegals that have two or three of these cards."

"Somebody who is here legally does not need a consulate card," DeLay said. "That is solely for the benefit for someone who is here undocumented."

Andres Chao, Mexican consul for the state of Arkansas, disagrees. Since 2002, all consulates in the United States have been part of a computer system tracking Matricula Consular applications, he said. If someone attempts to apply under the same name or information twice, the computer red-flags the application.

"It is a secure system with reliability," Chao said Tuesday.

Chao, who formerly worked in Mexico's New York consulate, said many legal immigrants who carry a Matricula Consular use the card as identification for work in banks and financial industry.

"There are people who have their papers who are in this country legally who have their Matricula Consular," he said in an interview conducted in Spanish. "It is a Mexican document. It is not something to substitute for U.S. documents."

Though immigration remains a key point for DeLay and Holt, Chao said neither had contacted his office to discuss their concerns. He said he would welcome any discussion.

Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, has supported bringing a consulate to the state since visiting Mexico in 2003. Huckabee said in a statement read by spokeswoman Alice Stewart that "a consulate will help us fully ensure immigrants from Mexico are legal and will be better able to secure legal documentation."

Currently, the nearest consulate is in Dallas. Chao hopes the Little Rock consulate will open sometime in December.

"The consulate in its basic purpose is to protect Mexican citizens," Chao said. "But it is also a window of business and window of cultural exchange and academics."

A service of the Associated Press(AP)