Use of consular identification cards is controversial within the
United States, as one aspect of the controversies over
illegal immigration. Issuing travel documents and passports are some of the functions performed by
consular offices for their citizens. "According to the Department of State, issuance of CID cards falls within the general scope of permissible consular functions." The
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 defined the allowable activities for consulate offices such as registering its citizens within foreign countries. Some jurisdictions and businesses accept them for some identification purposes. The 9/11 Commission recommended the United States establish standards for sources of identification, however the documents required to acquire CID cards vary from country to country, as noted below in the chart. In November 2004, the
U.S. Congress restored funding for the
Treasury Department to implement regulations that allow financial institutions to accept CID cards for banking (H.R. 4818/P.L. 108-447). A 2004 report prepared for the United States Congress by the
Congressional Research Service (CRS) acknowledges controversy over the use of CID cards. It states that supporters of consular identification cards argue that they are important in a post 9/11 America to improve security and bring transactions out into the open where they can be monitored more as well as improve bilateral relations by notifying consulates when foreign nationals are detained. Others say that acceptance of CID by US institutions is inappropriate since it facilitates the unlawful stay within the United States of undocumented aliens. and that cards are only needed "by aliens who are illegally present in the United States and serve to undermine U.S.
immigration policy". They say that at best better regulation is needed of these cards to "reinforce immigration policy and to defend against terrorism." Foreign governments are accused of "issuing consular identification cards in the United States for purposes other than those intended by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, namely to circumvent U.S. immigration law, and that the issuance of the cards should be subject to U.S. regulation." The United States government does not issue CID cards. It has recently begun issuing the
U.S. Passport Card to U.S. citizens for land and sea travel to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda as well as for domestic air travel within America but not for international air travel. ==History==