Your papers, please: new frontiers in decentralization.

• Author: Walker, Jesse
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

WHEN TALK TURNS to devolving the functions of government from Washington to the local level, the conversation usually centers around education, transportation, health care, and the Like. But immigration policy?

While the U.S. and Mexico crawl slowly toward an immigration treaty that will pass muster in Washington, many American communities have rushed ahead, agreeing to accept cards called matriculas, issued by Mexican consulates to Mexican citizens, as legitimate rns. According to The Arizona Republic, the cards have "allowed thousands of undocumented immigrants to live quasi-normal lives. They can now open bank accounts, check out books at public libraries and even face officers without fear of deportation."

At last count, 66 banks and 801 police departments in the United States accept the matriculas. The practice is spreading from the...