- LOS ANGELES (EFE) - A burgeoning
black market here frequented by illegal immigrants has a new product: the
forged "matricula consular," an official Mexican document some
states accept for opening a bank account or getting a driver's license.
-
- The fake registration cards are sold in broad daylight
just two blocks from the Mexican Consulate at MacArthur Park, where interested
parties can also buy phony Social Security cards, driver licenses, work
permits and green cards.
-
- The phony registration cards fetch double the price of
their legal counterparts, haggling aside, as confirmed by this EFE correspondent.
-
- "For $60, I'll make you Mexican and for $80, I'll
make you a gringo," one of the sellers told EFE, referring to the
going prices for phony registration cards and U.S. residency cards, respectively.
-
- According to Agustin Pradillo, spokesman for the Mexican
Consulate in Los Angeles, the buyers are most likely non-Mexican Hispanics
who want to take advantage of the benefits provided by the identification
card.
-
- "Those who are Mexican have no problem obtaining
a registration card; they know they can get a real one for $29," said
Pradillo.
-
- The spokesman, who said he had seen the fake registration
cards, stressed the security mechanisms used in the real document.
-
- "The fake registration cards, to the naked eye,
lack many elements ... The copies are so crude that you immediately notice,"
said Pradillo.
-
- "The legal registration card has a series of visible
and invisible mechanisms that are impossible to duplicate," he added.
-
- Several weeks ago, the consulate notified authorities
about the sale of the fake identification cards at the park.
-
- Los Angeles police spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello called
the sale of false documents in MacArthur Park "a difficult problem."
-
- Even if police arrest those selling the phony cards at
the park, Pasquariello said, they are just the tip of the iceberg in a
sophisticated black market trade in false documents.
-
- Pasquariello said that since authorities found out about
the sale of false registration cards, they have sent additional equipment
to banks and police stations to more easily detect phonies.
-
- He also said Los Angeles police have not received any
complaints about the false cards.
-
- The sale of fake registration cards comes at a time when
Congress is debating how these documents should be issued.
-
- Authorities have proposed setting up a centralized database
to prevent duplicates, requiring users to notify the consulate of any change
of address and asking the Mexican government to share the identities of
cardholders with the State Department.
-
- The measures were approved within a single initiative
last week by the House of Representatives, but must still go before the
Senate.
-
- Meanwhile, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez
told EFE that Mexico is willing to improve the registration card, if necessary,
although he said the quality of the new cards meets the same security requirements
as his country's driver licenses and social security cards.
-
- http://www.quepasa.com/content/?c=104&id=174198
|
