Sale Of Licenses From Four Mexican States Cancelled

Casa de Esperanza threatens legal action against Voces de la Frontera

By H. Nelson Goodson
El Conquistador Newspaper
3206 W. National Ave.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53215
414-383-1000
conquistador@bizwi.rr.com
October 2, 2008

Waukesha- Last weekend, Anselmo Villareal, the Executive Director of La Casa de Esperanza decided to cancel the Global Search initiative to sell driver licenses from four Mexican states in the non-profit facility. On Wednesday, Villareal said his decision to cancel the event shortly after it began was to avoid any controversy and any legal problems that would arise from the event. He admitted the agency received a press release from Voces de la Frontera alleging that the business operator of Credenciales USA was involved in the event along with Jorge Carassco Delgado from Global Search de México, S.A. de C.V. which operates Licencias Mexicanas (Mexican Licenses) in California.
Global Search had just sold six licenses in the facilities when Villareal intervene and requested Carassco Delgado of Licencias Mexicanas to refund the clients and stop the operation of selling licenses. Villareal also said that Credenciales USA and Hugo Loyo Cobos (member of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad 2006-2008) who is currently under investigation for selling worthless identification cards and international driving permits was not involved in last weekend sale of Mexican licenses.
Global Search had spent at least $2,500 in advertising in both Telemundo TV 63 and La GranD 104.7 FM radio, according to Villareal. The company was reimbursed part of the money by Casa de Esperanza, according to Villareal.
Villareal admitted that Carassco Delgado had provided him copies of the legal agreements entered between the four Mexican states and Global Search. The licenses are only good in Mexico, says Villareal. When Villareal was asked, Under which U.S. law and government treaty agreement would allow individual Mexican states to contract a private business to sell their licenses in the U.S. and exclude any Mexican government approval and oversight? Villareal responded that he would get the agency lawyers to look into it.
Villareal is now demanding for Voces de la Frontera to retract their allegations that a scam was being conducted at La Casa de Esperanza by Loyo, and Carassco Delgado. He has also threaten legal action against Voces de la Frontera, if they fail to do a retraction, according to Villareal.
Last Friday, Voces de la Frontera from Milwaukee sent out a press release claiming Loyo of Credenciales USA was involved in a new Mexican license scam in Waukesha at La Casa de Esperanza. Loyo is currently under investigation by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection for selling worthless identification cards and international driving permits to undocumented immigrants. Credenciales USA was exposed by a coalition of south side Milwaukee organizations, including Voces de la Frontera, Southside Organizing Committee, Mitchell Bank, US Bank, Lincoln State Bank, Landmark Credit Union, and El Conquistador newspaper. Lincoln State Bank was recently bought by Harris Bank.
Mexican citizens were invited through advertising ads in Telemundo TV 63 and La GranD radio to attend the Waukesha three day event at the Casa de Esperanza, 410 Arcadian Ave., organized by Carrasco Delgado, which offered licenses from the states of Veracruz, Aguascalientes, Hildago and Oaxaca for a price between $160.00 and $180.00, according to Voces de la Frontera.
In the press release Voces de la Frontera alleged that a member of Voces was told by a representative of Licencias Mexicanas that Loyo was indeed connected with Carrasco Delgado. During a community meeting on September 25 in Whitewater, Wisconsin, Mike Contreras from Banco Amex and Credenciales USA publicly admitted that he was at the meeting representing Hugo Loyo and that indeed they were both connected with the weekend event that offered driver licenses from four Mexican states at La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha, says Jorge Islas Martinez. The following people were present during the meeting, Whitewater Police Chief James Coan, Officer Zena Virrueta, Christina Neumann-Ortiz, Contreras, and Martinez. The group discovered the international driving permits by Credenciales USA and the licenses being offered by Carassco Delgado were invalid. Martinez the President of Sigma America a non-profit organization says that he called La Casa de Esperanza to warn them of the alleged driver license scam Contreras, Loyo and Carassaco Delgado were involved with.
Voces de la Frontera claims these documents do not provide any entitlement to drive in the United States, and are clearly an attempt to cash in on immigrants left without a license to drive after the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) regulations changed in April 2007 barring the DMV from issuing driver licenses and ID’s to undocumented immigrants.
Licencias Mexicanas is a California based company which has two offices, the first office is located in front of Plaza Mexico, 3100 E. Imperial Highway in Lynwood, California, and the second office is at 2661 Florence, # F, Huntington Park, California, according to www.LicenciasMexicanas.com on the internet. Information on the web page states a combine of more than 40,000 licenses from the previously mentioned Mexican states have been sold in the United States of America averaging a gross total of more than 6 million dollars in taxable earnings so far since it was established. The Mexican licenses have been sold in the following states Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas, according to Licencias Mexicanas.
Licencias Mexicanas operates without the aid of the Mexican Government or its Mexican Consulates operating in the country under treaty agreements with the U.S. government. Licencias Mexicanas states the company has an agreement with Mexican governors and authorities from the four Mexican states to sell licenses only to Mexican citizens from their states. However, it fails to mention any Mexico and U.S.A. treaty agreement allowing individual states like Veracruz, Aguascalientes, Hildago and Oaxaca to legally sell those licenses in the country without the Mexican government and U.S. government approval. Also, Licencias Mexicanas failed to mention, if they are authorized to receive vital information concerning its clients regarding information only afforded to Mexican government agencies. No road or written tests are required to get these type of Mexican licenses in the U.S. A license from Veracruz is valid for three years, and two years for Aguascalientes, Hildago and Oaxaca, according to www.LicenciasMexicanas.com.
These type of Mexican licenses are invalid for driving or for identification in the U.S., if the person carrying the license is in the country illegally, according to the United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.