Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Banks can use Mexican ID cards on accounts

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department said Thursday it will leave in place rules that allow banks to accept Mexican identification cards, called matricula consular, which often are used by undocumented immigrants to open accounts and have drawn controversy nationwide.

The decision was good news for the Las Vegas Valley's hundreds of thousands of residents of Mexican descent, said Berenice Rendon, Mexican consul for Las Vegas.

"This is a good decision for our community," Rendon said. The consul said offering many of the valley's working people who otherwise lack the necessary identification for opening bank accounts an opportunity for keeping their money safe heightens security for them and for the community.

The valley's Hispanic population is estimated at 361,000, according to the Census Bureau. About 70 percent are of Mexican descent.

The decision extends to all foreign-issued identification, making a victory for immigration and Hispanic groups that have protested efforts to prohibit use of the identification card as anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic.

The Treasury Department decided that under the existing rules, financial institutions bear the risk of failing to have an effective policy on what types of identification to accept. That risk acts as incentive for the institutions to adopt policies that will stem fraud, but still gives them flexibility to accept identification most used in their communities.

"When an institution decides to accept a particular form of identification, they must assess risks associated with that document and take whatever reasonable steps may be required to minimize that risk," the agency said in a statement.

Local financial institutions had opposed any change in the rule.

The department still would hold financial institutions accountable for the effectiveness of their customer identification programs. And the agency will notify financial institutions of problems with specific identification documents that are accepted.

The decision comes after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told The Associated Press that banks and communities that accept the card for identification do so "at their peril" because the cards are not fraud-proof.

Although Mexico is improving the card's security, the FBI reported this summer that the cards remain vulnerable to fraud.

Immigration opponents also have said the card acts as de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Rendon said the card's critics are ignorant of the card, its security features and its functions.

"Many people speak about the matricula without having correct information," she said.

"The card doesn't allow you to pass yourself off as a citizen."

The card is issued by Mexico's consulates to its citizens living abroad and shows the date of birth, a current photograph and the address of the card holder. Many of the cards have been issued to Mexicans in the United States, including those in the country illegally.

The Mexican consulate was the first to open in Southern Nevada for any country. When it opened in February 2002, nearly 2,000 matriculas were issued per month. Now the average is down to 1,400, she said.

Cardholders have used them to open bank accounts, turn on utilities, check out library books, get drivers licenses or other basic services in some communities and states.

The decision encourages other countries that have been considering issuing and promoting similar identification cards -- including Guatemala and Argentina, Rendon said.

"Once the door is open for Mexico, this decision makes it easier for other countries to do the same thing we have done," she said.

Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, said the Treasury decision is the right one because "there never was a valid argument to deny" acceptance of the cards.

"This is a triple win for rational thought. This is a win for the matricula, a win for the economy and a win for our close ally Mexico," said Bartlett, whose organization represents the 100 largest financial services companies.

Comment was not available from the Mexican Embassy in Washington. Many Washington offices were closed Thursday because of Hurricane Isabel.

Under pressure from Congress and the Justice Department, the Treasury Department decided to review recently implemented rules for financial institutions on identification they can accept from people opening accounts. The rules were mandated by the U.S. Patriot Act, passed into law after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Mexican IDs still are under review by a White House-led panel.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said the decision would strengthen calls in Congress to ban or restrict acceptance of the card.

"It allows a de facto creeping amnesty to take place without the White House having to sign its name to it," said Krikorian, whose center supports restricting immigration.

Sun reporter

Timothy Pratt and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

archive