Solving a Bureaucratic Identity Crisis

For years, Mexican immigrant David Mendoza has lived what he calls an invisible life--surviving in this teeming and sometimes intimidating city without any acceptable identification.

Lacking a green card or even a California driver’s license, the 27-year-old welder from the state of Michoacan has struggled to cash checks, open a bank account, deal with police, even rent a video.

But Friday morning, he lined up with 300 other anxious countrymen outside the Mexican Consulate here, waiting for the “matricula consular” ID card he hopes will finally offer him provable identity in the country he now calls home.

San Francisco this week became the first city in the nation to officially recognize the cards, issued by the consulate to any Mexican who supplies a birth certificate and proof of local residence. Police agencies in Orange County also recently recognized the cards.

Under the new rule, city offices are required to accept the Mexican IDs, but several businesses have voluntarily chosen to honor them as well.

For years, the cards--which feature the holder’s photograph, address, birthplace and signature--have been used by Mexican nationals who leave the U.S. to return home to visit. But the cards became especially hot property following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, when airports began requiring photo IDs to go anywhere.

San Francisco’s move--which may soon be considered by other cities--should help working-class laborers negotiate local bureaucracy while freeing up law enforcement resources once used when officers encountered a Mexican national without identification.

“This will make my life easier,” said Mendoza, shivering under a blanket draped over his shoulders to keep out the early winter chill. “Now I can use this ID and merchants won’t give me this strange look, like I was some suspicious person trying to pay for my groceries with pesos instead of dollars.”

But the ID cards’ new value has not come without controversy.

Dozens of anti-immigration activists appeared before the Anaheim City Council last week to protest a recent decision by the Orange County Police Chiefs and Sheriff’s Assn. to honor the cards.

Opponents Challenge Acceptance of Cards

Critics also planned a “Defense of the Homeland” rally outside Anaheim City Hall today. Many are critical of what they call lax U.S. immigration policies, adding that accepting the IDs offers de facto citizenship to foreigners who don’t deserve the privilege.

They also say any law enforcement officer who receives such an ID should consider the person undocumented and arrest him under U.S. immigration laws.

But San Francisco Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval called that argument nonsense, saying Americans are only shooting themselves in the foot by making life hard on immigrants who play such a vital role in the nation’s service economy.

“These people are already cleaning our offices at night, washing the dishes at the restaurants we eat at--they’re taking care of our children,” he said.

“If the government is going to require them to ID themselves in situations like airports or at federal buildings, it seems to me good public policy to give them a form of ID that helps them do that.”

Sandoval said that many San Francisco businesses have agreed to accept the cards and that Wells Fargo Bank honors them at its branches nationwide.

The new policy is also designed to stop gouging by some check-cashing services that have charged noncitizens exorbitant fees to wire money, Sandoval said.

Sandoval, an attorney and former public defender, said police officers often spent valuable time checking the identities of people they encounter without proper ID.

“It was a huge waste of city money,” he said. “It takes a cop a few hours to process people into custody. Our jails are already overcrowded. We need to take our resources and go after the bad guys, not law-abiding people who just happen not to have ID.”

Sandoval said he has heard from officials in Oakland and San Diego who say they may emulate the new San Francisco policy. “I see a lot of parallels between NAFTA and the European Union,” he said.

“I mean, it would be silly for a German national to go to England and not have a national identity card that is accepted. So why should it happen here?”

Mexican Consulate spokesman Bernardo Mendez said his office has received calls critical of the ID card, which he said has been issued for more than 20 years, although to fewer people.

“Most of the complaints are coming from Southern California--from people who don’t understand that the matricula doesn’t make workers think they’re legal or can get benefits here,” he said. “It has nothing to do with citizenship.”

As soon as San Francisco’s resolution passed, workers began lining up each morning outside the consulate to apply for or renew their cards, which are good for five years and cost $27.

Some 550 people a day have been turning out, consular officials say. On Friday, many arrived at 2 a.m. for a long cold wait until the doors opened six hours later.

Importance of Being Able to Prove Identity

Men wearing cowboy hats and thick metal belt buckles lined the sidewalk as white-collar professionals in suits and ties passed on their way to work. Wives filled out forms using their husbands’ backs as table tops.

Marcos Fernandez, a 28-year-old from Yucatan, said not having an ID has taught many of his friends the importance of being able to prove your identity.

“You never think about it--how many times people stick a hand in your face and demand you to prove who you are,” he said.

He glanced back at the hundreds of people who waited in line behind him. “Once these people get their hands on those cards, they won’t let them out of their sight.”