Thread: New York City Launches Municipal Identification Card Program

New York City Launches Municipal Identification Card Program

NEW YORK — Jan 12, 2015, 1:50 PM ET
By JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press

New York City has launched its municipal identification card program, the largest in the country, which will allow immigrants living in the country illegally to access key city services they were previously unable to obtain.

The card, dubbed IDNYC, was approved last year and became available to New Yorkers on Monday. It is aimed at those who do not currently have an ID, including the elderly, homeless and an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the city who live in the U.S. without legal documentation.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who worked closely with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to create the program, long a liberal goal, called the card "a gateway to city services."

"It is the key to opening a bank account or getting a library card, and the ticket to many of our city's finest cultural institutions," said the mayor, a Democrat. "More than that, this card represents who we are: New Yorkers who value equality, opportunity and diversity."

Advocates believe having the photo-embedded cards may make immigrants otherwise lacking documentation feel more comfortable seeking help from law enforcement. They said the cards also may help the elderly, the homeless and members of the transgender community who don't have easy access or funds to get state IDs to participate in other aspects of civic life.

"This is a day that we have been waiting for; it speaks to folding everyone into the fabric that is this city," Mark-Viverito said as she stood alongside the mayor at a Queens news conference. "It's more than an ID card, it's an affirmation. You are a New Yorker."

All New Yorkers age 14 and older are eligible, as long as they can prove their identity and city residence.

Bernardo Garcia, 40, said he had waited in line for more than an hour Monday at a Bronx library to apply for his municipal ID. Garcia, a Bronx resident who has a quality control job at a Brooklyn factory, said the ID could come in handy "for jobs, banking, insurance, for everything."

"Thank you for the opportunity!" said Garcia, a native of Colombia who has lived in New York about 15 years. "Everybody needs ID. This is New York: a great city. A great opportunity."

To prevent any possible stigma that the ID is only carried by immigrants who are in the country illegally, the city has created an incentive program to entice all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status, to get a card. Cardholders will be eligible for free memberships at many of the city's signature cultural institutions as well as other discounts.

The card is currently free to obtain, though a fee may be applied in the future, city officials said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/y...ogram-28171647

Legal IDs Now Available for 500,000 NYC Illegal Immigrants
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Monday, 12 Jan 2015 06:42 PM
By Cathy Burke

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in the nation's biggest city can now obtain identification cards — hailed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as "the gateway to city services" — that can be used to open a bank or credit union account and get residential benefits.

De Blasio's IDNYC program officially began Monday.

"IDNYC is not only a card for all New Yorkers, it is the gateway to city services, the key to opening a bank account or getting a library card, and the ticket to many of our city’s finest cultural institutions," the mayor's statement declared.

"More than that, this card represents who we are: New Yorkers who value equality, opportunity and diversity. Today, we are launching the most ambitious, dynamic and useful municipal ID program in the country, which will have a real and tangible impact on the lives of all New Yorkers."

The program was a campaign promise of the mayor— and came under immediate attack from the Foundation for American Immigration Reform, which contends such cards "aid and abet illegal immigration" as well as possibly terrorism.

It was approved by the City Council in June.

The cards, which look similar to a driver's license, are available to anyone over age 14 who can prove residency in the city. An applicant's immigration status won't be asked.

"It's going to open so many doors," de Blasio said in unveiling the new cards at library in Queens, the Daily News reports. "We don't want any New Yorkers to feel like second class citizens."

Offered free this year, the cards will have a fee in 2016, the Daily News notes.

"It's a beautiful card but really what's beautiful about it is what it stands for," de Blasio said. "It stands for everyone being respected, everyone being included."

More than 500,000 immigrants without legal status live in New York City, theInternational Business Times reports.

"I’m encouraging all my constituents to apply for an IDNYC card, and I’m particularly excited about the positive impact the program will have within our immigrant communities, from Chinatown to neighborhoods all across the city," Councilwoman Margaret Chin said in a statement, the International Business Times reports.

Related Stories:

• Immigration Expert: De Blasio's ID Cards Are a Public Safety Hazard
• Oregon Voters Reject Driver ID Cards for Illegals

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/US/NYC-Bill-d...#ixzz3Of0LLLC0

http://www.newsmax.com/US/NYC-Bill-d.../12/id/618149/

New Yorkers flood municipal ID card sign up centers, some being turned away from overcapacity

At Brooklyn Municipal Building, one of 11 application centers around the city, applicants lined up in the cold as early as 6:30 a.m., two hours before doors opened. At the end of the day, some who waited had nothing to show for it, and by 9 a.m., anyone who showed up was simply turned away at the door because the center was overcapacity.

BY Annie Karni
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 10:27 PM



James Keivom/New York Daily News People endure long wait for municipal ID cards at Mid-Manhattan Library.

A surge of New Yorkers eager to sign up for municipal ID cards flooded application centers Tuesday — and the city appeared unprepared for the overwhelming interest.

At Brooklyn Municipal Building, one of 11 application centers around the city, applicants lined up in the cold as early as 6:30 a.m., two hours before doors opened on the second day of the program.

At the end of the day, some who waited had nothing to show for it, and by 9 a.m., anyone who showed up was simply turned away at the door because the center was overcapacity.

Two clerks processing applications were expected to get through 70 applications at most, city workers told the crowd.

“Nobody expected this,” a Finance Department employee told the increasingly frustrated group. “They planned, but how could they expect this turnout?”

In response to the high levels of demand, the city announced Tuesday evening it would switch to an appointment-based system.

New Yorkers could sign up online or call 311 to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins would still be accepted.

The mayor’s office also said it planned to launch five “pop-up” enrollment sites soon.
"In the event of high demand we planned for an appointment system, which we are now implementing,” said City Hall spokeswoman Maibe Ponet.


EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS The process was slowed down even more when Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (pictured), immigrant affairs commissioner Nisha Agarwal and Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo arrived in the afternoon for a photo op.

Many New Yorkers said they were eager for the card, which looks like a driver’s license and is intended to help the city’s homeless and undocumented immigrants gain a government-issued ID.

But sitting in line for hours was a discouraging experience for immigrants juggling jobs and family.

“Soon I have kids to pick up, so time is against me,” said a nanny from Saint Lucia, an undocumented immigrant who declined to give her name. She arrived just after 8 a.m. and was still waiting at 3 p.m. “I wanted to go home, but I kept saying, maybe if I go, they’ll call me,” she said.

The process was slowed down even more when Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, immigrant affairs commissioner Nisha Agarwal and Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo arrived in the afternoon for a photo op.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Adams said as he cut the long lines to register for an ID himself while television cameras rolled. “They were waiting for 30 years to come out of the shadows.”

About 700 people across the city submitted applications for IDs Tuesday, Ponet said.

For those that that made it through, the wait was worth it.

“I need an ID, I don’t have ID,” said Damien Antonnarcai, 38, an undocumented immigrant who stood in line for six hours but didn’t complain.

Related Stories NYPD cops must accept city’s new municipal ID card
Gov. Cuomo calls on Congress for immigration reform
New city law allows ID cards for all

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2076934

I guess New York City has gotten so bad that no one wants to move there except people who don't know any better. That's the only reason I can think of that New York City would want over 1/2 million illegal aliens in their city, which certainly makes so bad even worse.

Originally Posted by Judy

I guess New York City has gotten so bad that no one wants to move there except people who don't know any better. That's the only reason I can think of that New York City would want over 1/2 million illegal aliens in their city, which certainly makes so bad even worse.

They drove up the cost to rent an apartment to over 2grand a month making property values skyrocket.

I can't wait to get out of this town, just a few yrs to go.

Obama's immigration initiative could benefit 225,000 in Chicago area, analysis finds

Abril Millan is a case worker at Latinos Progresando, a Chicago community group. She is a U.S. citizen, but her parents are both undocumented and living in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune)


By Katherine Skiba and Lexy GrossChicago Tribunecontact the reporter

One in 16 people in Cook County in country illegally, analysis suggests.

President Barack Obama's orders to spare some immigrants from deportation could apply to about 225,000 people in the Chicago area, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute.

In an analysis released Thursday, the Washington think tank estimated there are 322,000 immigrants in Cook County who lack permission to be in the U.S. That's about 1 in 16 residents of Cook County, based on recent population counts.

Only two counties in the U.S. have more: Los Angeles County, Calif., and Harris County, Texas, where Houston is the county seat, according to Randy Capps, the institute's director of research for U.S. programs.


Immigrants data reveals impact of Obama executive orders (infographic)

The new analysis found 155,000 of the residents who are undocumented in Cook County — or 48 percent of the estimated total — could be eligible for two "deferred action" programs ordered by Obama. The estimated number eligible was 22,000 in Lake County, 22,000 in Kane, 16,000 in DuPage and 11,000 in Will.

The president announced in November an expansion of a program for temporary relief from deportation for "dreamers," immigrants illegally in the U.S. after arriving as children.

He had unveiled the program in 2012 for children who had arrived in the U.S. under the age of 16, lived in the U.S. for at least five years and met educational and public safety criteria.

Last November, the president lifted the requirement that applicants be 30 or younger to apply and he extended their deportation relief from two years to three, said Michelle Mittelstadt, the institute's director of communications.

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The president in November also authorized a new program for people who have lived in this country for at least five years and are parents of either U.S. citizens or long-term permanent residents.

That second program has come as welcome news to Abril Millan, 20, who lives on the Southwest Side in the Gage Park neighborhood and works at Latinos Progresando, which provides legal and social resources to families in the Chicago area.

Millan said she and a sister were born in this country after her parents came here from Mexico illegally in 1993. Because of the children's citizenship, their parents are eligible to seek deferred status, she said.

The parents' illegal status has been a challenge, Millan said.
"It's hard for them to sustain the family," she said. "My dad's been the only one working, but he's been coming across issues — they don't take him because he doesn't have documentation to work."

Carolina Rivera, 41, a waitress, said she also would benefit from the new program.

She said she has been living undocumented in Chicago since 1992, when she and her husband arrived with plans to stay in the U.S. for a few years, earn money and go back to build a house in Mexico. But their three children were born here, and when their oldest started school, she decided to stay because of the U.S. educational system.

"We want her to study here because the education is better," she said.

Rivera said her husband was deported in 2011, but she expects to qualify for deferred action because her children are citizens.
The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimated last fall that Illinois had 560,000 people without documentation. Its new analysis says Cook County is where nearly three-fifths of them live.

About 70 percent of the Cook County immigrants without legal documents were born in Mexico, 4 percent in Poland, 3 percent in India, 3 percent in Guatemala and 2 percent in Ecuador.

Mexico remained the top country of origin in the outlying counties analyzed, accounting for 93 percent of the undocumented people in Kane County, 80 percent in Lake, 78 percent in Will and 63 percent in DuPage.

Eight percent of the people without documents in DuPage County were born in India, the analysis found.

The statewide look estimated that 73 percent of the people in Illinois without legal status were from Mexico, with 3 percent from India, 3 percent from Poland, 2 percent from Guatemala and 2 percent from China.


House votes to undo Obama immigration actions

The institute's Capps said the analysis was done in part to help immigration advocates reach out to the people who meet the criteria to apply for relief from deportations. "It's useful to states and local governments, to mayors, to know more about their populations of immigrants," Capps said.

Rocio Alcantar, a supervising attorney for the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago, welcomed the analysis.

"The reason why these numbers are great is so we can have them for our purposes and planning," Alcantar said. "So, for instance, the fact that 70 percent are from Mexico might indicate that people who qualify might be Spanish speakers, so that could help us with staff concerns."

The state and county estimates were drawn from an analysis of two Census Bureau surveys. One is the annual American Community Survey, which gives detailed estimates of immigrant populations at the state and local level, but does not identify which immigrants are here legally and which are not, Capps said.

The other is a smaller-scale data set last compiled in 2008, he said. It is the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which includes questions on whether immigrants have legal status, Capps said.

The expansion of the "dreamers" program is expected to begin next month, and the program for parents is likely to start around May, Mittelstadt said.

Rivera, the waitress who expects deportation relief because her children are citizens, was asked whether she was worried that the situation might change after Obama leaves office.

"I am not afraid because of what I have here," said Rivera, who is active in the Southwest Organizing Project, a Chicago community group. "Even if the president isn't there any longer, if he decides to revoke it … the government doesn't have the resources to deport all of the people who will apply."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...115-story.html

http://www.alipac.us/f12/s-d-county-...aliens-316851/

http://www.alipac.us/f19/nyc-jails-h...g-ties-316818/

A "Cable, Phone, or Utility Bill (dated within 60 days)" is sufficient to prove residency. So I could have my cell telephone bill sent to a friend's address in order to obtain an IDNYC. How easy!

Immigration News in NY: Queens Is Top NYC Borough With Undocumented Immigrants Eligible for DACA, DAPA Programs

By Michael Oleaga (m.oleaga@latinpost.com)
First Posted: Jan 16, 2015 04:30 PM EST

More than half a million undocumented immigrants are living within the five boroughs of New York City, but slight more than 230,000 are eligible for the deferred action programs created by President Barack Obama. (Photo : Getty)

More than half a million undocumented immigrants are living within the five boroughs of New York City, but slightly more than 230,000 are eligible for the deferred action programs created by President Barack Obama.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released details data on featuring estimates of major U.S. counties and its undocumented immigrants population. The MPI's details include "population size, countries of origin, recency of arrival, educational enrollment and attainment, health insurance coverage, poverty levels and potential eligibility for the two deferred action programs launched by the Obama administration."

The two deferred action programs are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The latter program was announced during Obama's Nov. 20, 2014, primetime address on immigration executive action.

MPI's data profiled 94 counties across the U.S. and discovered the five counties with the largest populations potentially eligible for either DACA and DAPA relief are Los Angeles, California; Harris, Texas; Orange, California; Cook, Illinois; and Dallas, Texas, accounting for 1.1 million people, or more than one-fifth of the total potentially eligible population nationwide, which MPI estimates at 5.2 million.

"Our analysis shows that deferred action is likely to affect counties differently," said Randy Capps, director of research for MPI's U.S. programs. "In general those counties with the most Mexican immigrants among the unauthorized have the highest share who are eligible for DACA or DAPA, with the majority of these counties being in California and Texas."

Capps said undocumented Mexican immigrants are most likely to be "well established" in the U.S. and establish "mixed-status families," meaning a household with undocumented parents and U.S.-citizen or legal permanent resident children, which could qualify them for the DAPA program in.

Within New York City, 643,000 undocumented immigrants were estimated by MPI with Queens being home to most of them, specifically 246,000. However, 91,000 undocumented immigrants living in Queens are found to be eligible for DAPA or DACA. After Queens Brooklyn -- or Kings County -- has the second-highest population eligible for either deferred action programs with 71,000 due to large populations of Mexicans, Chinese, Ecuadorians, Guyanese and Jamaicans.

The Bronx ranked third with the total population of undocumented immigrants with 117,000, but only 43,000 are eligible for DACA or DAPA. The Bronx was found to have large immigrant populations from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica and Honduras.

Manhattan, labeled as New York County, was projected to be home for 83,000 undocumented immigrants, including 25,000 eligible for DACA or DAPA. Manhattan is home to many Mexicans, Dominicans, Chinese, Ecuadorians and Japanese.

Richmond County, more commonly known as Staten Island, has the least totals among the five boroughs with 8,000 undocumented immigrants eligible for DACA or DAPA from the total 16,000 total undocumented immigrants in the borough.

MPI's data release comes as NYC became the largest city to grant municipal identification cards for undocumented immigrants, and thousands have registered to receive one.

From all 94 countries across the U.S., MPI said 5.2 million undocumented immigrants are eligible for DACA or DAPA, which represents 46 percent from the overall 11.4 million total U.S. undocumented population.

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/32...centration.htm