The Mexican government has opened a new satellite consular office on Catalina Island to provide the island's illegal alien population with identification cards:
The Mexican consular office in Los Angeles issued a flier, a copy of which was obtained by The Examiner, listing the Catalina Island Country Club as the location of its satellite office. It invites Mexicans to visit the office to obtain the identification, called matricular cards, by appointment.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican whose district includes Catalina Island, said handing out matricular cards will exacerbate an already dangerous situation.
"Handing out matricular cards to Mexicans who are not in this country legally is wrong no matter where it's done," he said. "But on Catalina it will do more damage. It's a small island but there's evidence it's being used as a portal for illegals to access mainland California."
Rohrabacher added, "If there were a large number of Americans illegally in Mexico and the U.S. consulate was making it easier for them to stay, Mexico would never permit it."
Mexican officials with the consular office in Los Angeles could not be reached immediately for comment. The matricular consular identification card, is issued by the Mexican government to Mexican nationals residing outside the country, regardless of immigration status. The purpose is to provide identification for opening bank accounts and obtaining other services. But the cards are usually used to skirt U.S. immigration laws, since Mexicans in the country legally have documents proving that status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
Catalina Island is a popular resort off the California coast with a history of human trafficking and drug smuggling...and yes, a lot of illegal aliens work in the hotels, restaurants and resorts.
The Consular marticular card itself is a well known joke in Southern California. Provided you pay the fee and speak some Spanish, the consulate officials will issue one to almost anyone who applies, under whatever name you give them. They're also easily forged and duplicated. Once someone has one,they can be used as ID to open bank accounts, mail drops, rent storage facilities, PO boxes and a host of other services...even if your real name is Ahmed or Hassan rather than Armando or Jorge.
Needless to say,in Los Angeles the Mexican government in not going to have problems with this outrage.
In an interesting development, it appears that the consulate lied to the owners of the Catalina Island Country Club, claiming they were just leasing space for a 'multi-cultural festival'.
When the Club received reports of what the Consulate actually intended, they refused to allow them to use the premises - after which the Consulate moved their operation to a Catholic church, claiming sanctuary under the Geneva Convention.
Since St. Catherine’s Church is part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles under Cardinal Roger Mahoney ( a long time proponent of amnesty for illegal aliens, among his other activities) there's no question that this is being done with the Cardinal's blessing.
Congressman Rohrbacher's reaction?
“If the Catholic Church insists on preventing immigration law from being enforced, then they should step up and pay the bill. Let the Catholic Church open up its schools for free and use their vast resources to pay for the benefits of illegals if they feel it’s such a moral issue. I don’t exactly see Cardinal Mahoney announcing the sale of Catholic church property to pay the bills for illegal immigration. This holier than thou hypocrisy has got to stop.”
For my part, I find the Catholic Church's position on sanctuary intriguing. While I'm sure the Cardinal would claim that this policy of compassion is a long time position of the Church, I find it interesting that it did not extend to Jews during the Holocaust - with the exception of some incredibly courageous individual priests and nuns.
-selah-
full disclosure: i was born/baptized/raised catholic. i am as of this writing a practicing catholic.
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I find the Catholic Church's position on sanctuary intriguing.
intriguing?
intriguing?
roflmao
intriguing may be the word you would use if you hosted a website and took to heart the journalistic principle of objectivity.
the word i would use, if i were to post a comment, would be bullshit.
however, i won't use that word because i don't want to get banned from commenting at J/P.
ff has warned me, more than once, about using words that detract from the message/meaning of my comments.
neither will i say they have their collective/progressive heads stuck up their arse so far they haven't seen the light of day for decades.
that would again have ff target me with his wrath. so i won't make that comment.
the catholic church currently has it's hands full of those priests seeking to emulate mohammed. i think that speaks well enough for them. as i see it, the higher up the chain of authority ones rises in the church, one could be a senator or congressman as closely as they relate to people, in that cozy little fiefdom they inhabit.
as for me, i hope congressman rohrbacher is not planning on issuing a retraction.