Immigration Reformer Plays Joke on Security Guard
Hal Netkin, American Patrol, July 19, 2004
Richard Garcia
Assistant Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
11000 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
RE: Good news for Al Qaida
On Friday, July 16, 2004, I went to the Federal Building on Van Nuys Blvd., in Van Nuys (Calif.), to ask the IRS some questions about doing an amended return.
The very friendly and sharp security guard by the name of Smith, who manages the metal detector machine through which everyone is required to pass, noted that my cell phone was also a camera and told me that I would have to leave it in my car. I went back to my car, left the cell phone, and returned to the federal building.
When I went to enter the federal building a second time, the same security guard asked me for identification. I showed him my driver license and was cleared to pass through the metal detector machine. But before
I went through, I pulled my personal Matricula Card which I legally carry as a novelty, and jokingly displayed it and asked the guard if he would have allowed me in had I tried to falsify my identity with the card. He told me that he had instructions to accept the matricula ID, as the Matricula is the only form of ID for many tax payers who need assistance from the IRS. When I pointed out that it would be unlikely for a person like myself, who has blond hair (what I have of it) and blue eyes to have a legitimate matricula card, he said that he was not allowed to profile and so would have allowed me to enter.
When I asked him if he had any way to verify the authenticity of the card or verify the card holder’s information, he said he did not.
When I mentioned to Smith that there was a federal mandate against the use of matricula cards in federal buildings, he said that such information hasn’t trickled down to him yet.
With Al Qaida studying the vulnerability of Federal Buildings and other targets, I consider this a serious matter.
Hal Netkin
POB 3465
Van Nuys, CA 91407
