Bullfighter
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- Jun 10, 2010
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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer
Updated 1:46 AM Sunday, June 20, 2010
HAMILTON Kathalena Gay came to St. Julie Billiart Catholic Parish Saturday, June 19, to get a Mexican consular identification card for her fiance and father of her five children who has been in the country illegally for 13 years.
We hope to get an ID so we can get married and get him legalized, she said.
Kade Lecy came because her identity was stolen 10 years ago when a company she applied to used her Social Security number to hire illegal immigrants.
An American citizen would get $8 to $9 an hour when he can hire three (illegal immigrants) at that price, Lecy said. Im afraid everywhere I apply, it (identity theft) is going to happen again.
St. Julies hosted a Mobile Mexican Consulates Office Saturday, where Gays fiance and roughly 400 other Mexican nationals came to get Mexican consular ID cards and other services.
Lecy was one of a couple dozen protesters calling for immigration reform, and decrying the consular IDs and the Catholic churchs role in helping provide them.
The cards, called a Matricula Consular, are issued without any check of someones immigration status. They can be used to open a bank account and access other services. They are not a work permit, and are not recognized by the U.S. government for Social Security, welfare or other social programs.
Mexican Consul Juan Solana said in a phone interview that the cards have been around for years and are vital for keeping track of Mexican citizens living in the U.S.
They have to prove they are Mexican, they dont have to prove anything else, he said. We are the Mexican government, we simply are taking care of our citizens and thats it.
We do not get involved in American politics.
But protesters led by the West Chester Twp.-based Southwest Ohio Patriots brought politics to them. Many said they knew someone who lost a job to an illegal immigrant, others worried about illegal immigrants not paying taxes and straining social services.
Protesters largely saw the issue as black-and-white. What part of illegal do you not understand? read a sign held by protester Bobby Knight of Hamilton.
But many of those using the consulate said the protest has more to do with their brown skin. I think its racist, said one man who didnt give his name because he is undocumented. Those around him nodded.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or [email protected].
Mexican ID program riles protesters
Updated 1:46 AM Sunday, June 20, 2010
HAMILTON Kathalena Gay came to St. Julie Billiart Catholic Parish Saturday, June 19, to get a Mexican consular identification card for her fiance and father of her five children who has been in the country illegally for 13 years.
We hope to get an ID so we can get married and get him legalized, she said.
Kade Lecy came because her identity was stolen 10 years ago when a company she applied to used her Social Security number to hire illegal immigrants.
An American citizen would get $8 to $9 an hour when he can hire three (illegal immigrants) at that price, Lecy said. Im afraid everywhere I apply, it (identity theft) is going to happen again.
St. Julies hosted a Mobile Mexican Consulates Office Saturday, where Gays fiance and roughly 400 other Mexican nationals came to get Mexican consular ID cards and other services.
Lecy was one of a couple dozen protesters calling for immigration reform, and decrying the consular IDs and the Catholic churchs role in helping provide them.
The cards, called a Matricula Consular, are issued without any check of someones immigration status. They can be used to open a bank account and access other services. They are not a work permit, and are not recognized by the U.S. government for Social Security, welfare or other social programs.
Mexican Consul Juan Solana said in a phone interview that the cards have been around for years and are vital for keeping track of Mexican citizens living in the U.S.
They have to prove they are Mexican, they dont have to prove anything else, he said. We are the Mexican government, we simply are taking care of our citizens and thats it.
We do not get involved in American politics.
But protesters led by the West Chester Twp.-based Southwest Ohio Patriots brought politics to them. Many said they knew someone who lost a job to an illegal immigrant, others worried about illegal immigrants not paying taxes and straining social services.
Protesters largely saw the issue as black-and-white. What part of illegal do you not understand? read a sign held by protester Bobby Knight of Hamilton.
But many of those using the consulate said the protest has more to do with their brown skin. I think its racist, said one man who didnt give his name because he is undocumented. Those around him nodded.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or [email protected].
Mexican ID program riles protesters