Oregon Attorney Lawyer

In a Hillsboro classroom, members of the police department scrutinize examples of the credit card-sized controversy that has the Bush administration and Congress divided, states adopting different policies and federal officials warning of a threat to national security.

But the Hillsboro police officers say they’re more interested in the utility than the politics of the Mexican consular identification cards.

Sgt. Debra Crooks said she appreciates the inclusion of a family contact in Mexico that the consulate requires each cardholder to list.

“Any additional ways we have to identify people or notify families are helpful,” she said. “That’s our concern.”

The Mexican Consulate has issued some kind of identification to its nationals in the United States for more than a century. As the number of Mexican immigrants increased, consular identification became more widely used by police, state governments and banks nationwide. In Oregon, the Hillsboro, Beaverton and Woodburn police departments are among those that accept the consulate-issued card as official identification.

The consulate issued about 20,000 cards last year, nearly triple the number it did in 1997, its first full year of operation.

Oregon is one of 14 states that accepts the consular ID card on some official level. In Oregon, the card is sufficient proof of age, but not identity, for a driver’s license. In Washington, Tacoma recently became the fifth municipality, joining Seattle, Bellevue, Renton and Yakima, to accept the card as official identification, according to The Associated Press.

In July, Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon announced that his state would accept the card. Meanwhile, the Colorado Legislature has banned its use.

The Bush administration has yet to take an official position on the card, to the ire of members of Congress who oppose it.

In the debate about illegal immigration, this little rectangle of plastic has become a symbolic battleground. Also known as the matricula consular, the card is issued regardless of the applicant’s immigration status.

Mexican consular officials insist the card is a practical means of verifiable and consistent identification for its nationals abroad. Without it, many would have no form of ID — or only fraudulent ones. But activists against illegal immigration say the card gives legitimacy to people who have broken the law.

Neither Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski nor the state Legislature has taken a position on the cards. As more matriculas are issued in Oregon, they are sure to become the subject of increasing debate.

Opponents say allowing holders to get driver’s licenses, open bank accounts or access other services is equivalent to approving illegal immigration.

Immigration officials estimate that in 2000, there were 4.8 million undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States. They say there are no reliable estimates of how many are in Oregon. The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies reported that there were 117,000 Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal, in Oregon in 2000.

Local and state governments that accept the card are usurping the federal government’s jurisdiction over foreign national identification, said Jim Ludwick, spokesman for Oregonians for Immigration Reform.

“It’s almost as if you stamped on the card ‘I’m an illegal alien,” ” he said. “No one else who is here legally would need a matricula consular. They would have legal American identification.”

That’s not true, said Martha Ortiz de Rosas, the consul general of Mexico in Portland. Some Mexican nationals obtain the card to gain entry to Mexico when they return to visit.

“Our ID is issued by the Mexican government, to register our nationals,” Ortiz de Rosas said. “It doesn’t say anything about whether the holder is allowed to be in the U.S.

“The Mexican government does not have that authority.”

As post-Sept. 11 security crackdowns have required photo identification for entering office buildings, wiring money and other activities, the consulate has encouraged Mexican nationals to obtain matriculas, Ortiz de Rosas said. A new version of the card debuted in March 2002, with a number of security features that make it harder to falsify.