Should Escondido finance giving Matricula Consular cards to illegal aliens?

Two officials of that California city are asking whether Escondido should spend money on an event to which the local Mexican consulate was invited. The consulate drew a crowd: hundreds of people lined up, many to get "IDs for illegals", aka Matricula Consular cards.

Details in "Two Escondido officials angry about Mexican consulate's presence at fair". So far no one has fessed up to inviting our "friends" from south of the border, and note that other city officials wanted to turn a blind eye to this issue.

See also "Conferring Legitimacy, This Card Draws a Crowd" (our friends pay a visit to south Orange County), "Mexican president vows to fight for continued U.S. acceptance of matricula identity cards", and "Consular IDs help illegals evade immigration law". In somewhat related news, see "Who exactly does Gloria Molina work for?"

UPDATE: Our friends have responded. "Mexican diplomat: Escondido officials' comments 'irresponsible'" includes the following hilarious quote from Luis Cabrera, Mexico's consul-general for San Diego:

"Issuing these documents has nothing to do with immigration."

That's a bald-faced lie: these cards have everything to do with immigration, specifically with providing ID cards for illegal aliens. See the links above, especially this.

Immigration2005b · Tue, 06/21/2005 - 13:55 · · Importance: 1