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CHEAP TRICKS
March 16, 2003 [Link added by AmericanPatrol.com]Mexican howdy-dowdy ID card, matricula consular, is almost completely tamper-resistant and forge-proof, advertise Mexican consuls and their associates in he U.S. Its authenticity is guarded by such high-tech features as holographic marks on its front and digitally encoded and secured info on magnetic strip on its back. "It's a fully reliable proof of identity of its holder," they keep saying.
What they don't tell you is that the cards they have issued to over million Mexican nationals in the U.S. during last year, most of them being illegal entrants, are only as good as the information provided by the applicants to the issuing Mexican clerks. An easy to forge or to buy (for less than $30) Mexican birth certificate and a school diploma with a photograph (about as easy to counterfeit or fraudulently obtain as the birth certificate) suffice to get the "matricula", no document authenticity verified, no questions about the "immigration status" asked. It's like the Mexican authorities put their "high-tech, tamper-resistant, and forge-proof" seal on all these documents, many of them of dubious authenticity, without even making an effort to verify if they were real.
Well, the dishonest governments of many backward countries do similar cheap tricks with their currencies. They will print impressive amounts of state-of-the-art bank notes that are virtually impossible (or, at least, impractical) to forge. The money may seem safe for the naive (or oppressed) subjects of these governments. The only thing is that because of their unlimited printing quantities, they cannot buy much. Those who are paid in these worthless money are being cheated out of the wages they deserve for their work or serves. Similarly, those who accept the "matricula" cards are being cheated out of their trust that the information certified by Mexican consulate is reliable (which is not).
Both the governments that pay their workers in seriously looking but worthless money and the Mexican authorities that issue seriously looking but worthless "matricula" cards are guilty of deliberate cheating. Those who in good faith accept them voluntarily make fools out of themselves. I hope your local government and law enforcement agency does not belong to that category.
Or, do they?
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