Legislation pending in Congress would clamp down on fraudulent consular ID cards -- the so-called "McCards" commonly used by illegal immigrants and which the FBI considers to be a threat to national security. What's proposed doesn't go far enough.
Under new rules approved by the House, nations that issue the ID cards to citizens living in the United States will have to ensure that applicants are bona fide citizens of their respective countries. Failure to comply could result in a ban on visas issued by the State Department.
But a huge loophole remains: Exactly how does the United States know that foreign countries are, in fact, properly checking cardholders' credentialsâ¢
In Mexico, the most prolific provider of the cards, documentation for consular cards is easily forged, experts say. That's of no concern to foreign bureaucracies, which collect fees and point immigrants, legal or otherwise, to the United States.
Legal immigrants don't need consular cards; they already have visas or green cards. Security experts say the cheap IDs are tailor-made for illegals -- or for terrorists.
Of course, the open-gate gang in Washington characterizes any hesitation over accepting the cards as fear and loathing of immigrants. Clamping down on their freedom to live illegally among us is, in the words of one congressional leader, "a dangerous precedent."
The dangerous precedent is to diminish the nation's security needs.
