Following on his failed effort to get U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down on Matricula Consular card applicants, Sen. David Vitter says he's introducing a bill to prevent banks from accepting the cards as valid identification.

The cards are one of the major flashpoints in the immigration debate, with critics saying they allow illegal aliens access to the kinds of services and benefits that allow the aliens to blend into society.

The federal government has said that banks can accept the cards as valid ID, but Vitter's bill would change that, saying an unexpired passport would become the only accepted document issued by a foreign government.

— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times