4,000 ID's issued by Mexican consulate; Huckabee lobbied for it

Debbie Pelley, WPAAG: In a recent article, Bank Takes Mexican IDs, Joining Other Chains, we find that "Twin City Bank in Little Rock has joined other chains in accepting identification cards issued by consulates to Mexicans living abroad...The bank also provides tax identification numbers to customers that don't have Social Security cards... The consulate has issued 4,000 matricula consular cards and passports since it opened--a nearly overwhelming response for his 10 member staff. The bank also applied to join the Federal Reserve's Automated Clearing House, a system allowing its branches to send money from clients to approved banks in Mexico, Hardcastle said. That's a service that could draw more Mexican customers to the bank, as extra money often finds it way back to families still living there. Mexico estimates it received $23.1 billion in U.S. remittances in 2006." [That is $23.1 billion spent in Mexico instead of helping the economy in the US.] ". . . the bank, which quietly rolled out its new programs, has not received any criticism for reaching out to Mexican immigrants, a state with one of the fastest-growing Spanish-speaking communities in the nation."

This road to this process began many years ago after former Gov. Mike Huckabee visited when Huckabee visited with Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico City. When Gov. Huckabee visited, they talked about the possibility of a consulate in Little Rock. After he left, the government began working on it. A good reference is an article that appeared in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: NWA’s Hispanic numbers help land Mexican consulate office. The article revealed that “Gov. Huckabee realized early on that states with Mexican consulates have done very well tradewise with Mexico. We did research and talked with the officials, we saw right away that we needed to be in play for the consulate,” he said. The consulate office itself will be a business draw to Little Rock as people come to conduct their affairs with the Mexican government, Trevino said. They will stay in Little Rock hotels, eat in local restaurants and get a chance to see the city and part of the state they might not have visited without the consulate’s presence. In 2004, Mexico’s then-consul general in Dallas, Carlos Garcia de Alba, announced the plan to build the consulate in Arkansas. Huckabee stood beside him when he made the announcement at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock. Huckabee said he actively sought a Mexican consulate for Arkansas, and its arrival would open up opportunities for Arkansas businesses." Perhaps Twin City Bank needs to hear from Arkansans, and perhaps the people in the rest of the nation need to know how presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's actions on illegal alien issues contrast with his rhetoric.

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Tags: Arkansas, Debbie Pelley, illegal aliens, matricula consular cards, Mexican consulate, Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate, Republican, WPAAG To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!