City Refuses To Accept Mexican Consular Cards

Matricula consular cards will not be considered a valid form of identification for those wanting to do business with the city.

The new policy, brought forward by Councilman Ron Smith, was adopted unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday night.

A matricula consular card, or identification card, is a Mexican government-issued identification card that demonstrates a Mexican national is living outside the country. The card resembles a California ID card, but it bears the colors of the Mexican flag: red, green and white.

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Vice Mayor Ed Sileo commented that the immigration issue has nothing to do with race but rather breaking the law.

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County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose 5th District includes the Antelope Valley, voted against the measure, saying the matricula cards easily could be counterfeited and used by terrorists to evade security measures.

The matricula card was designed with specific security measures, according to the Mexican Consul. Each card contains an infrared band and is encoded with government marks that are visible only with a special decoder. A Mexican official seal, known as the “advantage seal,” appears over the person’s picture and changes colors in light.

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Councilman Andy Visokey said he was deeply disappointed in the federal government for not dealing with the immigration problem.

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The City Council unanimously agreed in August that business licenses should have an area where the applicant agrees not to employ undocumented or illegal workers.

Presented by Smith and Visokey, the goal was to give the city more teeth if a business is giving undocumented workers jobs.

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In July the council added a stipulation to city contracts that anyone working for the city must be a legal U.S. worker.

Visokey spearheaded the resolution, which was approved July 11 after he was approached by the staff of Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster.