You Know Who's to Blame for All Those Problems at DHS? The Mexicans, That's Who!

Jesse Walker | June 14, 2006

The Washington Times reports:

The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.

Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City police officer, used his phony card -- which lists his place of birth as "Tijuana, B.C." and his address as "123 Fraud Blvd." on an incorrectly spelled "Staton Island, N.Y." -- to enter the building Wednesday for a meeting with DHS officials.

Somehow, the Times manages to frame this as a story about the dangers of matricula cards. Because obviously, the guard at DHS would have noticed "123 Fraud Blvd." and "Staton Island" on a fake driver's license.

Comments

|6.14.06 @ 1:04PM|#

yes, when in doubt, always blame the mexicans, hombre!

AboutMatriculaConsularCards|6.14.06 @ 1:19PM|#

Those who want to actually learn what's going on can click my link for more on these cards and the Mexican government being allowed to pass them out to their citizens who are in our country illegally.

Those who support the cards are in effect supporting the Mexican government.

And, on a "libertarian" note, both the FBI and the DOJ have warned that the cards are a security risk. Despite that, the BushAdministration fought to letbanks accept them. Since "libertarians" claim that they support national defense, shouldn't they support the DOJ and the FBI in this case? Or, like Bush, does everything take a back seat to cheap labor?

|6.14.06 @ 1:23PM|#

The last thing you said, l w.
The cheaper the better.

|6.14.06 @ 1:24PM|#

AboutMatriculaConsularCards, where to begin?!?

Wild Pegasus|6.14.06 @ 1:30PM|#

I spent a week-end in Tijuana, British Columbia. Much cleaner than the one in Mexico.

- Josh

Taktix|6.14.06 @ 1:43PM|#

Obviously, ID cards are faulty. That's why we should implant chips in everyone's skin. For our safety. For the safety of the children.

Think of the children.

Warren|6.14.06 @ 2:01PM|#

Because obviously, the guard at DHS would have noticed ... a fake driver's license.

Excellent point Jesse. And I think there's a more subtle one here. Putting more "security" measures in place often just has the effect of adding time, expense, and assorted hassle, without any actual security.

The guy at the door lets everybody who flashes a baseball card in, because thousands of people flash IDs at him all day. Often they have some technical problem or other, but always they are just some ordinary person with legitimate business trying to make their way in this crazy mixed up world we call civilization. At least all of them so far.

Calls for tighter security never seem to take into account how many people will need to, be granted access, get across the boarder, allowed to fly, etc. And how most attempts to identify the bad guys will be either easily thwarted or else be enormously costly.

Of course the most costly price we pay for "security" is becoming acclimated to showing ID on demand, being searched, moving our protests down the block, etc.

AboutMatriculaConsularCards|6.14.06 @ 2:35PM|#

I don't expect this site to have any concern for U.S. sovereignty, but if this site is concerned about privacy then perhaps they should consider stopping supporting illegalimmigration. Many of the very powerful forces behind illegal immigration have other goals, and illegal immigration helps them with those goals:

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15497

|6.14.06 @ 2:48PM|#

"123 Fraud Blvd."

Don't they watch the Simpsons? That should be "123 Fake St."

|6.14.06 @ 2:57PM|#

If that superhighway were to be built as a toll road with private funds, that would be frickin' AWESOME!
Thanks for the tip, AboutMatriculaConsularCards!

|6.14.06 @ 3:07PM|#

lonewacko

using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.(emphasis mine)

However valid your complaints about the Matricula Consular card might be, they don't seem to be relevant to this thread, which has to do with a fake version of a card that is not even valid ID at government buildings being accepted by an incompetent security guard.

But since you have an irrational preoccupation here I supppose nothing can be allowed get in the way of it, can it?

|6.14.06 @ 3:57PM|#

BTW, isn't possible that the "B.C." in "Tijuana, B.C." is actually correct? The city of Tijuana, Mexico is located in the Mexican state of "Baja California" and the official website for the state government uses the abbreviation "B.C." for the state: http://www.bajacalifornia.gob.mx/portal/ (see, e.g., "Mexicali, B.C.")

|6.14.06 @ 4:05PM|#

"isn't it possible"