The city council finds and declares all of the following:
A. 
Mexican Consular Identification Cards, or Matriculas Consular, are state-of-the-art and contain various security safeguards designed to prevent falsification;
B. 
The Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular is not evidence of citizenship or of a right to work in the United States; it does not change the immigration status of the holder and does not entitle the user to obtain government benefits;
C. 
The Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular is not a driver's license, and confers no driving privilege beyond that which a bearer thereof may already possess by way of a valid driver's license issued by this state or by any other state of the United States;
D. 
Various large metropolitan and small cities and counties, including the city of Los Angeles, the county of Los Angeles, the city and county of San Francisco, the city of Oakland, the city of Watsonville, the city of Oxnard, the city of South Lake Tahoe, the city of Sutter Creek, the county of Santa Clara, the county of Ventura, the county of Sacramento, and the county of Santa Cruz, currently accept the Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular as an official identification card;
E. 
The acceptance of the Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular can assist law enforcement departments and other similar agencies process foreign nationals who are detainees more quickly and efficiently;
F. 
There are currently twenty-eight California sheriff departments, eighty-nine police departments, six district attorneys, and three state agencies that recognize the Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular as a valid form of identification; and
G. 
Various financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, California Credit Union, and California Union Bank, accept the Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular as well; and since November 2001, Mexican immigrants have opened new bank accounts and deposited over fifty million dollars in banks throughout California.
(Ord. 577 § 1, 2003)
A. 
The Matricula Consular is an identification card issued by Mexican Consulate offices to Mexican citizens who can prove their nationality and identity. The card was created in 1870 to help Mexican consulates keep in contact with Mexican nationals living in the United States. Each card bears a photograph of the applicant taken by the Consulate, a legal address, a signature, a serial number, and a series of security devices designed to prevent falsification, forgery, and counterfeiting. The Mexican Consulate charges a set fee for the issuance of the card, and it is valid for five years.
B. 
As used in this chapter, the terms Mexican Consular Identification Card and Matricula Consular are interchangeable. This chapter applies only to the Mexican Consular Identification Card/Matricula Consular, and not to any other identifying document that may be concurrently or subsequently issued by the Mexican government including, but not limited to, civil registry records or military service documents.
(Ord. 577 § 1, 2003)
A. 
To the extent permitted by California or federal law, and subject to the provisions of this chapter, every agency, officer or employee of the city of Cathedral City shall accept for purposes of personal identification an identification card issued by the Mexican Consulate Office, or Matricula Consular, as equivalent to a driver's license or identification card issued by the department of motor vehicles, except when possession of a valid driver's license or California Identification Card is required by law or ordinance of the city of Cathedral City.
B. 
1. 
If, in the judgment of the agency, officer, or employee of the city of Cathedral City to whom a Matricula Consular is presented as identification, the Matricula Consular lacks sufficient objective indicia of authenticity, or appears to be inauthentic, the Matricula Consular shall not be accepted as identification.
2. 
As used herein, the term "objective indicia" means criteria developed by the state of California, a law enforcement agency of the state or a subdivision thereof, or the United Sates government, and does not mean the individualized judgment of any agency, officer, or employee of the city of Cathedral City.
C. 
Unless otherwise required by law, when the Matricula Consular is presented as identification in the context of an arrest, it shall be accepted only where the arrest is for an offense chargeable as an infraction, and only to allow the arresting officer to issue a citation. An arrest for an offense cognizable as either an infraction or a misdemeanor shall not be characterized as a misdemeanor arrest if the sole purpose of the decision to charge as a misdemeanor shall be to circumvent the provisions of this ordinance or to avoid the recognition of the Matricula Consular as identification.
(Ord. 577 § 1, 2003)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a Matricula Consular shall not be accepted as identification in lieu of a valid driver's license issued by this state or by any other state of the United States or a valid California Identification Card when presentation of a valid driver's license issued by this state or by any other state of the United States or a valid California Identification Card is required under any provision of federal or state law or under any law or ordinance of the city of Cathedral City as part of a criminal background investigation or application for a license to do business in the city of Cathedral City.
(Ord. 577 § 1, 2003)