Arizona House of Representatives

       1700 West Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007-2844

Phone:  (602) 926-3233 FAX: (602) 417-3120

bmarson@azleg.gov  www.azhouse.gov

 

Rep. Russell Pearce (R-18)

News Release  

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Napolitano continues defense of illegal aliens

 

 

            (State Capitol, Phoenix) – Pandering to open border groups and the pro-illegal immigration community, Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a measure to ban the use of the unreliable consular ID card.

 

“Some Mexican officials view acceptance of the consular ID as a stealth amnesty because it extends benefits to illegal aliens living in the United States that would otherwise only be available to legal immigrants and citizens,” Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said.

 

Immigrants in this country legally have green cards, state driver's licenses, or passports/visas. They have no need of the consular ID, the only constituent for this card are illegal aliens.

 

SB1236 would have banned the use of consular identification cards in Arizona. Under federal law they are illegal due to large scale forgery and unreliability.  

 

Congressional testimony by the FBI and Homeland Security Department officials on numerous occasions say the acceptance of this card poses one of the greatest threats to Homeland Security.

 

For illegal aliens consular cards are the easiest way for illegals to obtain official-looking ID’s. They are issued by the Mexican consulate, but do not certify immigration status.

 

“The issuance of these cards is tantamount to AMNESTY.  They break our laws when they cross the border, repeat offenders when they undercut Americans for jobs and three-strikers when they use false identification to obtain services or cash the checks.” said Pearce.

 

The consular ID card, according to the FBI, is easy to obtain through fraud and susceptible to forgery. The FBI said the card is not a reliable form of identification.

 

Napolitano has consistently vetoed bills that attempt to deal with the border security problem, preferring to rely on federal inaction.

 

“The voters have spoken loud and clear: They want the state to deal with this problem,” Pearce said. “When will she stop hiding behind the excuse that this is a federal problem?”

 

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For further information contact:

Barrett Marson, Director of Communications

 Arizona House of Representatives

Office: (602) 926-3233, e-mail: bmarson@azleg.gov