Thread: States To Give Drivers Licenses to illegals Under Real ID

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051010/us_ ... dentity_dc

Road to digital drivers' licenses chaotic
By Alan Elsner Mon Oct 10, 1:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has embarked on a massive effort to create a secure digital driver's license system by early 2008 but some experts warn that the plan may be hugely expensive and lead to chaos.

Congress passed the Real ID Act last May and gave states three years to implement it. It laid out minimum national standards for licenses, which will have to include a digital photo, anti-counterfeiting features and machine-readable technology.

States will have to verify all documents presented to support license applications, such as birth certificates,

Social Security cards and utility bills, with the issuing agency, and will be required to link their license databases so they can all be accessed as a single network.

States will also be required to verify that a person applying for a license is in the country legally. They will have the option of issuing a separate credential to illegal aliens so that they will still be able to drive.

All but 11 states now require that drivers licenses be issued only to citizens or legal residents, but many do not verify applicants' identities.

"This law has the potential for huge bureaucratic and technical problems," said Cheye Calvo of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"This law was written by people who didn't take the time to understand how these things are done and didn't even hold any congressional hearings," he said.

Some 227 million people hold drivers' licenses or identity cards given out by U.S. states, which issue or renew about 70 million each year. Around 14 percent of U.S. residents move annually, requiring address updates or new applications.

Supporters say the act was necessary because several of the hijackers who attacked New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, had obtained licenses fraudulently which they then used to board planes.
Beyond that, adherents say the driver's license, which has become the primary means of identification in the United States for travel and commerce, is fundamentally insecure and untrustworthy because of widespread identity theft.

"Today, anyone's identity can be easily compromised," said Bill Willis, a senior vice president of biometric company ImageWare Systems Inc. "Today's ability to ensure a single person has a single identity is broken."

SAME NAME

Another Real ID Act requirement is that a person's license and Social Security card must bear the same name, which must be the real name -- not a nickname or shortened version.

But when Alabama recently tried to implement this provision, it had to suspend the effort when thousands of people jammed state offices. Many were also angry when they discovered the state was charging them $18 to make the change.

Nobody yet knows how much the Real ID Act will cost to implement or how much money Congress will provide for it. The state of Washington, which has done the most thorough cost analysis, put the bill in that state alone at $97 million in the first two years and believes it will have to raise the price of a driver's license to $58 from $25.

On the other hand, a secure ID system could save millions in Medicare and Medicaid fraud and combat identity theft.
Right now, states are waiting for the Department of

Homeland Security to issue regulations for implementing the law, which will include many details that the legislation itself left blank, including the type of biometric information that each card must include.
But the regulations are not expected to be finalized until next summer at the earliest, which will leave states with precious little time until the May 2008 implementation date.

"There is a concern that some states are not planning for the transformation and will find themselves having to move very hastily," said Brendan Peter, a senior director with Daon Inc., a Virginia-based biometric company.

Calvo of the National Conference of State Legislatures, wonders if the act can be implemented at all. "Whether states will be able to verify so many millions of documents at all, much less in a timely manner, is in question," he said.

Meanwhile, Hispanic groups, immigrant advocacy organizations, civil liberty and privacy groups still hope to derail the act, perhaps through litigation, or by creating a groundswell of opposition that will force Congress to modify or repeal part of the law.

"People are just now beginning to wake up and see what this act means. Every U.S. citizen is going to feel the impact very profoundly," said Michele Waslin of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest grass-roots Hispanic organization.

We need this repealed NOW.

WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT WHEN YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GIVE THEM TO TERRORISTS ANYWAY!!!

I'm against giving drivers licenses to illegals even if it is marked differently but I'm in favor of the REAL ID. Heck if the the National Council of The Race is against it I'm behind it all the way!

I don't understand the paranoia some of you have over this.

Pointless crap to make Bush look like he's doing something when he's doing absolutely nothing.

What's the point of this when any terrorist/gang member/rapist that crosses that border can get an ID in these 11 states.

My "paranoia" doesn't come from the liberal side of the argument, which states that "Big Brother Bush" wants to know what books I checked out of the library, et al.

It comes from legitimizing criminal migrants by putting them on the same par as U.S. citizens when it comes to this. Although, I could see being in favor of it if it makes finding and deporting them easier.

Are you for sharing your private information with Mexico and Canada? I am not and will not ever accept this ID. It is un-American.

Watchdog. Read the CFR Plan, that is what this ID is about, not for stopping illegals from driving.

It’s not paranoia it is fact and in order to understand the big picture, you need to look at all of the facts before jumping on board with this thing.

If I use your logic, George Bush is for Amnesty for illegals, I am against Amnesty for Illegals. George Bush is for the REAL ID, therefore I am opposed to it.

I hope you understand my point. The Real ID is just part of the unification of the US Mexico and Canada as one nation.

Are you for sharing your private information with Mexico and Canada? I am not and will not ever accept this ID. It is un-American.

Watchdog. Read the CFR Plan, that is what this ID is about, not for stopping illegals from driving.

It’s not paranoia it is fact and in order to understand the big picture, you need to look at all of the facts before jumping on board with this thing.

If I use your logic, George Bush is for Amnesty for illegals, I am against Amnesty for Illegals. George Bush is for the REAL ID, therefore I am opposed to it.

I hope you understand my point. The Real ID is just part of the unification of the US Mexico and Canada as one nation.

http://news.com.com/

What's the justification for this legislation anyway?
Its supporters say that the Real ID Act is necessary to hinder terrorists, and to follow the ID card recommendations that the 9/11 Commission made last year.

It will "hamper the ability of terrorist and criminal aliens to move freely throughout our society by requiring that all states require proof of lawful presence in the U.S. for their drivers' licenses to be accepted as identification for federal purposes such as boarding a commercial airplane, entering a federal building, or a nuclear power plant," Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said during the debate Thursday.

How about we seal off the boarders and issue special ID's to all visitors from outside the USA? Oh that's Right; they have a program like that. Why not put GPS in them?

They allowed Illegals to work art how many military bases and nuclear power plants, Airports, in Federal Buildings, and on the highways driving trucks? Give me a Break.

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Watchdog. Read the CFR Plan, that is what this ID is about, not for stopping illegals from driving.

I'll check it out. Thanks.

Watchdog here is an article about the CFR plan and they have a direct link about integrating us with Mexico and Canada.

http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2005/j ... 07-13.html