United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters GAO August 2004 BORDER SECURITY Consular Identification Cards Accepted within United States, but Consistent Federal Guidance Needed GAO-04-881 August 2004 BORDER SECURITY Consular Identification Cards Accepted Highlights of GAO-04-881, a report to within United States, but Consistent Congressional Requesters Federal Guidance Needed Several state and local government Consular identification cards are issued by some governments to help agencies and financial institutions identify their citizens living in a foreign country. The cards do not certify accept consular identification (CID) legal residence within a country; thus, cardholders may be either legal or cards, which are issued by foreign undocumented aliens. CID cards benefit the bearers by enabling them, in governments to their citizens living some instances, to use this form of identification to obtain driver’s licenses, abroad. Mexico issued more than 2.2 open bank accounts, show proof of identity to police, and gain access to million CID cards in 2002-2003 and Guatemala issued approximately other services. 89,000 from mid-2002 to 2003. Critics of CID cards say their acceptance Mexico and Guatemala each take multiple steps to help ensure that the facilitates the unlawful stay within process for qualifying applicants seeking to obtain CID cards verifies the the United States of undocumented applicants’ identities. After receiving criticism about the reliability of its CID aliens and may provide opportunities card, Mexico took steps to improve identity verification procedures for its for terrorists to remain undetected in CID card issuance process. However, the Mexican issuance policy still relies this country. on visual, rather than computer-based, verification of some documents used to obtain CID cards, including birth certificates that the Federal Bureau of GAO examined (1) the purpose of a Investigation (FBI) says may be fraudulently obtained. Both Mexico and CID card and how Mexican and Guatemala incorporate a variety of security features in their CID cards, such Guatemalan CID cards are being used as holographic imagery. However, officials of the Department of Homeland in the United States, (2) steps Mexico and Guatemala have taken to verify Security’s (DHS) Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement warn the identities of CID card applicants that incorporating technical security features into identification documents and incorporate security features in such as CID cards does not guarantee their authenticity. CID cards now used in the United States, and (3) the positions and Federal agencies hold different and, in some cases, conflicting views on the policies of federal agencies regarding usage and acceptance of CID cards, and no executive branch guidance is yet CID cards. available. A Homeland Security Council task force of executive branch agencies is reviewing identification document security but had not issued its findings at the time of GAO’s review. The Department of the Treasury GAO recommends that the Homeland adopted a regulation in 2003 that, in effect, allows CID card acceptance, Security Council direct its task force while an FBI official has stated that the Mexican CID card, in particular, is to issue consistent guidance that not a reliable form of identification and that its acceptance could support would enable state and local false identities. DHS expressed security concerns as well. The State governments and other institutions to Department has publicly expressed concerns about the impact restricting assess the authenticity of foreign- CID card use might have on U.S. citizens abroad, for example, if the United issued CID cards. The Homeland States had to issue its own CID cards in an emergency. Security Council declined to comment on this report. The Sample of Mexican CID Card Department of Homeland Security generally agreed with the report but offered some suggestions for clarifying the administration’s position and practice. www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-881. To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more information, contact Laurie Ekstrand at (202) 512-2758 or [email protected]. Source: Mexican government. Contents Letter 1 Results in Brief 3 Background 5 CID Cards Are Issued to Help Identify the Citizenship of Persons Residing in a Foreign Country, and Some Institutions Accept Mexican and Guatemalan CID Cards as Valid Identification 6 Identity Verification Procedures and Security Features Vary, and Some CID Cards May Not Ensure Cardholder’s Identity 10 No Consistent Federal Guidance for CID Card Usage or Acceptance Exists 20 Conclusion 23 Recommendation for Executive Action 23 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 24 Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 26 Appendix II Status of Legislation Being Considered in the European Union Related to Establishing Standards for Secure Identification Documents 28 Appendix III References to Passports and to Consular Identification Documents in Federal Statutes and Statutes of Selected States 30 References to Passports in Federal Statutes 30 References to Passports in Statutes of Selected States 37 Appendix IV Comments from the Department of Homeland Security 49 GAO Contact 51 Staff Acknowledgments 51 Appendix V GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 51 Tables Table 1: Types of Required Documentation for Obtaining a Mexican CID Card 11 Page i GAO-04-881 Consular Identification Cards Table 2: Mexican and Guatemalan CID Card Security Features 18 Figures Figure 1: Mexican CID Card Issuance Process, as of January 2004 13 Figure 2: The Guatemalan CID Card Issuance Process 15 Figure 3: Sample of Laminated Mexican CID card 16 Figure 4: Sample of High-Security Mexican CID Card 17 Figure 5: Sample Guatemalan CID Card 19 Abbreviations AAMVA American Association of Motor Vehicle Administration CID consular identification card DHS Department of Homeland Security DMV Division of Motor Vehicles (North Carolina) EU European Union FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement IFE Federal Electoral Institute (Mexico) ITIN individual taxpayer identification number NILC National Immigration Law Center SSN Social Security number US-VISIT United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology VCCR Vienna Convention on Consular Relations VWP Visa Waiver Program This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. Page ii GAO-04-881 Consular Identification Cards United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 August 24, 2004 The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives The Honorable John N. Hostettler Chairman Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives In recent years, a number of state and local government agencies and financial institutions have begun accepting consular identification (CID) cards issued by certain foreign governments as a service to their citizens who, regardless of legal residence status, live in the United States. For example, Mexico issued more than 2.2 million cards from 2002 through 2003, and Guatemala issued about 89,000 CIDs from August 2002 through December 2003. Argentina has begun a program in Los Angeles to issue CID cards with new security features to its citizens, while other countries, including Peru and Bolivia, are considering issuing CID cards of their own. Critics of CID cards have argued that acceptance of these cards facilitates and promotes the continued unlawful stay within the country of undocumented aliens. Since the terrorist attacks in 2001, some federal officials have also voiced concerns that the continued acceptance of CID cards provides opportunities to terrorists to remain undetected in the country and to transfer funds that support terrorist activities. Our review of CID cards addresses the following issues: (1) What is the purpose of a CID card and how are Mexican and Guatemalan CID cards, in particular, being used in the United States? (2) What steps have Mexico and Guatemala taken to verify the identities of CID card applicants and to incorporate security features in CID cards now being used in the United States? (3) What are the positions and policies of key federal agencies regarding the usage and acceptance of CID cards in the United States? In addition, we reviewed other aspects of domestic and international CID card usage and related security issues, including (1) the status of new legislation under consideration by European Union members to establish standards for other types of secure identification documents and Page 1 GAO-04-881 Consular Identification Cards (2) federal and state laws in selected states that refer to passports or CID cards. This information is contained in appendixes II and III, respectively. To determine the purpose of CID cards and how Mexican and Guatemalan CID cards are being used in the United States, we reviewed provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which, among other things, governs consular services. We contacted the embassies