L.A. to Honor Identity Cards From Mexico

The Los Angeles Police Department and other city agencies will accept identification cards issued by the Mexican Consulate as valid ID for illegal immigrants on a trial basis as a result of a closely watched City Council vote Tuesday.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 13 to 1 to approve a six-month pilot program to accept the matricula consular, an identification card the Mexican government has issued to expatriates for more than a century.

The decision means illegal immigrants--ineligible for Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and other officially recognized U.S. identification documents--will be able to obtain many of the same city services as legal residents. Among other things, they will be able to borrow books from libraries, attend hearings at City Hall, and be cited and released by police for minor traffic violations, rather than being taken to jail to be processed for those stops.

Immigrants’ rights groups and most council members hailed the move, saying it allows immigrants to prove their identity--especially important in a post-Sept. 11 world--and to ease the travails of everyday life.

“It’s an issue of human dignity and respect,” said Councilman Nick Pacheco, urging his colleagues to support the matter. “This country has long respected all of our residents, and this is an expansion of that respect.”

Victor Narro, a project director with the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles, said the decision helps hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers, such as day laborers and domestics, who form a key element of the region’s economy.

“These workers basically live in the shadow of our city,” he said.

Others, however, argued that the decision will undercut federal immigration laws.

“This document is almost a flat-out admission that the person who holds it is in the country illegally,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles office of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “The city of Los Angeles should not adopt an official policy of not only are we going to turn a blind eye, but we’re going to recognize these documents that say we’re here illegally.”

The Mexican government has advised its 48 U.S. consulates to promote the ID cards for the estimated 3 million undocumented Mexicans living in the United States. Applicants must provide a birth certificate, military or school ID or other valid Mexican identification to receive the matricula consular. A new generation of cards incorporates security features such as holograms to discourage forgeries.

Despite the measure approved Tuesday, Los Angeles city workers do not have to accept a card they find suspicious. If police pull over a speeding cardholder, for example, they can call the Mexican Consulate to verify his or her identity.

Similar measures have been approved in Phoenix, San Francisco, Santa Ana and other cities. Banks, airlines and other businesses courting Mexican customers have been recognizing the cards as legal ID in recent years.

Indeed, Miriam Galicia Duarte of Wells Fargo in Los Angeles said 20,000 new accounts have been opened at her bank’s branches since it began accepting the cards last November. About $50 million has been deposited in California banks overall, she said.

It “has been an incredible program that has given the opportunity to thousands and thousands of individuals in the U.S. to now be a part of the financial mainstream in this country,” she said.

Councilman Hal Bernson--the lone member of the council to vote against the pilot program--said he believes individual institutions such as Wells Fargo have the right to decide whether to accept the ID cards. But “I have some questions about why we should recognize this card officially,” he said.

Mehlman agreed, saying police officers can already exercise discretion when dealing with illegal immigrants. “You couldn’t do any police work without certain discretion,” he said. But “we shouldn’t be giving people any blanket assurances that they never have to worry about the police.”

Local and police officials countered that the move--supported by the LAPD--will help protect neighborhoods, and especially the vulnerable residents preyed upon by slumlords and gang members who know their victims are afraid to call the police.

“People will be able to report crimes to the LAPD without any fear,” said Councilman Eric Garcetti. “We need to have that in our communities.”