For illegal immigrants, new mobile ID service

"If US interests weren't accepting these cards, nobody would be lining up to get them," says Steven Camarato, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.

While legalization is not the Mexican consul's stated aim, some say it's the implicit goal. Plans for amnesty for several million US illegals - which Mexico President Vicente Fox had lobbied for before 9/11 - don't seem politically feasible at the moment. But many see matriculas as the next best thing. The mobile consulate is part of Mr. Fox's bold attempt to help Mexicans in the US - and tap into a lobbying network that's quietly changing attitudes toward illegal immigrants.

Though they contribute less than two percent to the GDP, illegal Mexicans prop up parts of the American economy. Many farmers, contractors, factory owners, and homeowners wink at their services, and matricula cards are evidence that such attitudes are spilling into American officialdom.

"The basic thing ... is an attempt by the Mexican government to try to be useful to its citizens in the United States, but in particular it's an attempt to be useful to those in the US illegally," says Mr. Camarato.

For Deputy Consul Carlos Isunza, the roadshow is a legal way to serve Mexicans - and one that has taken on new aspects since 9/11. It's also for safety: With cards in hand, Mexicans feel more comfortable about reporting crimes. "This is not about immigration," he says. "This is about the safety of our citizens." And states that allow Mexicans with matriculas to get drivers' licenses, for instance, may improve road safety.

But while few people see illegal Mexicans as a threat to national security, the ease with which they move through American society is a concern, says Mr. Leiken, author of "The Melting Border," a book about US-Mexican immigration.

"There is a security problem associated with having a large population of illegal immigrants, in that it creates a market for fraudulent documents," he says. "And we saw the result of that on 9/11, when some of the terrorists obtained their papers through Salvadoran illegals."

What's more, critics fear that the Mexican government's new practices in the US will open the door for other governments to take a larger role in the lives of expatriates living here illegally. Right now, the Guatemalan government is preparing its own version of the matricula consular.

"Next we may see the Chinese and Egyptian governments doing the same thing," says Mr. Camarato. "If you're a patsy, people beat up on you, and that's what's happening right now to the US."

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