Thread: CA: ID Cards Considered in San Francisco & Oakland

S.F. ID card program supporters hold rally
John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Four San Francisco supervisors joined with immigrant rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups on Tuesday to demand that Mayor Gavin Newsom move ahead with a program to issue municipal identification cards to residents regardless of their immigration status.

Newsom suspended implementation of the program last month to make sure it complies with state and federal laws. The move came after a series of Chronicle articles explaining how the city regularly shielded young illegal immigrants from deportation after they were found guilty of felony crimes. That practice has since been stopped.

Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who sponsored the ID card legislation, called its implementation a "matter of social justice" amid recent raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Supporters say the cards could help illegal immigrants obtain services that call for identification, such as getting a library card. LGBT groups say it could help transgender people get an ID that lists their correct gender.

City Administrator Ed Lee is looking into how the cards can be made counterfeit-proof, according to the mayor's office.

"There's no challenge to the policy. We're talking about the implementation of the policy," mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard said. "It has to be implemented in the most careful way to make sure it withstands any legal challenges."

The Immigration Reform Law Institute of Washington, D.C., has sued to stop the program.

Speakers at Tuesday's rally, including Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Chris Daly and Gerardo Sandoval, urged city leaders to recommit to the sanctuary policy for illegal immigrants.

Backers of the sanctuary policy contend media focus on criminal cases involving illegal immigrants is inflammatory and ignores the vast majority of hardworking immigrants here to support their families.

E-mail John Coté at jcote@sfchronicle.com.

Comments:


iolanthesf9/17/2008 12:03:52 AM

Great. Give them ID cards, drivers' licenses, and gift certificates to nice stores. Then when they show up to collect, send them packing home.

dogpatchtruth9/17/2008 1:36:12 AM

Supervisor Tom Ammiano: your ongoing acts and deeds as an agent of foreign powers to the south make you a traitor to America. You should feel free to go live out the rest of your years in your chosen host country, right after you go to prison for providing aid and comfort to the La Raza movement which is in itself a terrorist organization aimed at destroying our national sovereignty and bankrupting our nation, one illegal at a time.

city_native9/17/2008 3:01:22 AM

The proposed SF identification card program is more proof that SF is dysfunctional, as proved by the antics of Supervisor Tom Ammiano. He should be prosecuted for treason, or at least dumped back in the wilds of his native New Jersey. He does not represent the citizens of SF, just the illegal aliens and extreme left. It's no surprise that Newsom hit the pause button on this project, as it will not withstand scrutiny by Homeland Security or the State of California. This project is DOA. This ID project is another attempted end run by supporters of illegal aliens to provide them with papers and freebies, when they should be provided with a jail sentence and deportation back to their home countries. I doubt that Newsom and Ammiano will ever wake up. There is no sanctuary for illegal aliens in SF. If you know of illegal aliens, just call the toll-free ICE hotline at 866-347-2423 to get them arrested and deported. It's time to save SF from loonies like Ammiano. No ID for illegals! No mas!

forcu9/17/2008 3:24:58 AM

Tom Ammiano is an old fart from the East Coast that has contributed little to San Francisco. His sleek move to Sacramento - comes at a time - when he must scamper away and be gone. The ID program is bereft with loopholes and will open a can of worms. It will make the plight of those Ammiano wants to help - worse. The man does not comprehend - he will not be there - he will be pandering to folks in Sacramento - just like Fiona Ma does. Ammiano is pathetic - and it is all because straights in San Francisco have looked the other way - while folks that cannot think straight - live cockeyed - are openly encouraged to be arses. And to think of it - that he is supported - by some - who have not thought about this ID situation - throughly. We might as well - be a Nation in San Francisco - complete with all the trims of a Sovereign Nation. Much of our drab talk at City Hall is about Foreign Affairs and nothing much to serve the constituents that are suffering - living, day to day. Go figure!

zeezil9/17/2008 5:12:35 AM

Illegal Aliens: Arrest, incarceration and DEPORTATION...si se puede!!!

mmianosucks9/17/2008 7:17:45 AM

Hey Ammiano, we'll be letting your union support base, like the Teamsters, know that you're actively promoting illegal alien labor to undercut union wages! You can kiss that support good-bye!

hernandez_usa19/17/2008 7:30:13 AM

Please contact your U.S. Representative through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask him/her to do everything possible to stop the passage of three bills in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday: H.R. 5882, a bill that would add an additional 550,000 permanent green cards annually; H.R. 5924, which would add 20,000 additional foreign nurses per year for three years (plus their families); and H.R. 6020. Remember: 342,000 American jobs were eliminated throughout the economy last month. And, the number of people officially unable to find work rose to 592,000. Nevertheless, the House Judiciary Committee will consider a bill (H.R. 5882) to increase the number of employer-sponsored visas by 550,000 next year. You care about getting our nations economy and getting money in American Pockets then Call, E-mail or Fax your Rep. www.numbersusa.com

jerk_quake9/17/2008 9:01:07 AM

Well it would make for easier post-mortem identification when they are shot down in the violent, bloody, neglected streets of Ammiano or Daly's Districts.

Coalition Seeks Oakland ID Card
Backers say municipal identification would help undocumented immigrants report crimes and open bank accounts.
By Jocelyn Wiener

September 17, 2008

If a group of local community activists has its way, every Oakland resident, including the undocumented, would be eligible for a city-issued ID card as soon as next year.

(photo) Mills College graduate Maria Dominguez helped start the coalition.

Across the bay in San Francisco, a similar program adopted by the county last year is now facing major roadblocks. But the Oakland City ID Card Coalition — a small group of immigration attorneys, homeless advocates, Green Party members, and college students — is pressing on. They say the local ID cards would encourage more undocumented immigrants to report crimes to police, and also would allow them and members of other marginalized groups to access libraries and open bank accounts. This, they add, would benefit the whole community by reducing crime and encouraging investment in the local economy.

"The most important thing for all of us is to have some form of identification," said Jesse Newmark, an attorney with Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal services organization that supports the coalition's work.

Oakland is one of a handful of California cities and counties — including Richmond, Los Angeles, and Marin County — where the idea is now being contemplated, advocates say. Members of the Oakland coalition hope to bring the proposal before the city council by year's end.

So far, only two communities in the country — San Francisco and New Haven, Connecticut — have adopted municipal ID programs. Both communities have come under heavy fire from anti-immigration groups, which say such programs aid and abet illegal immigration.

While New Haven's program is up and running, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom last month sent a letter to the city administrator ordering him to postpone implementation of the program in the wake of an unrelated controversy surrounding the city's immigrant sanctuary policies. The city's program also is the target of a lawsuit by the Washington-based Immigration Reform Law Institute, which contends that it has failed to account for the program's environmental impacts, and that it is an unlawful use of taxpayer funds.

Advocates in Oakland are hoping the problems across the bay won't impact support for their proposal. They say that the ID cards would help many of those who dwell on society's margins, including undocumented immigrants, the homeless, transgender people, and elderly African Americans from the South who were born at home and never issued birth certificates.

Maria Dominguez, who helped start the coalition, wrote her Mills College senior honors thesis on the idea of a municipal ID for Oakland. Dominguez said she grew up hearing about undocumented friends and family members who didn't have their papeles, or papers in Spanish. Many were afraid to report crimes to police, or became "walking ATMs," easy targets for robbery because they lacked bank accounts. A municipal ID could help the problem, she said.

"If you live in Oakland, you should have the right to be called an Oakland citizen," she said. She estimates that the ID card program could cost between $50,000 and a few hundred thousand dollars to initiate.

Paul Rose, spokesman for Mayor Ron Dellums, said the mayor was not yet familiar with the proposal but would be open to exploring the possibility of an ID card.

Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason said his department had one preliminary conversation with the coalition. To support the program, he said, the department would want to make sure there was a method of verifying each applicant's identity, and that all information would be kept in a secure database.

Miguel Robles, coordinator of the Alianza Latinoamericana por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes, which has been working with various municipal ID coalitions across the state, said anyone who applied for a city ID card would be required to have some other former of photo ID as well as proof of address.

Robles says an ID card would not only ease victims' fears about reporting crimes but also make it easier for police to identify criminals.

Last week, at a lunchtime gathering held for day laborers at Centro Legal de la Raza, reaction to the ID card proposal was both hopeful and hesitant. Men in faded baseball caps and paint-spattered jeans said they longed for the day-to-day benefits an ID card provides. But some worried that, should they apply for such a card, the government would deport them.

A man who identified himself as Jose Luis said he'd been in the country and undocumented for 17 years. He carries in his backpack any money he earns working as a day laborer. He's never had a bank account, or a library card. "Yes, this would help a lot," he said.

His friend Victor wasn't so sure. "An ID is a gamble," he said. "You can win. You can lose."

In order to avoid singling out undocumented immigrants, coalition members are hoping to provide incentives for city workers, school district employees, and students of all ages to apply for the ID. Such incentives could include using the card for public transit, for access to museums or libraries, or as a student ID card.

Wilson Riles, a former city councilman and longtime community activist, believes an ID card could help provide a unifying identity for a city often divided by race, class, language, and neighborhood. "I think the municipal ID is of the utmost importance for actually moving this city forward," he said.

Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez, an attorney with Alameda County's Homeless Action Center, said the card could prove helpful to homeless people. Oftentimes, he said, they have a difficult time proving their identities, which, in turn, keeps them from getting benefits. "It's almost impossible to understand what it's like not to have an official form of ID," he said. "It's so fundamental to us."

Members of the coalition say they have approached the Oakland Unified School district and the Peralta Community College district, and are reaching out to members of the city council. They hope the proposal will go before committee soon, then be heard by the full council in late 2008 or early 2009.

Mike Wishnie, a professor of law at Yale University, said the New Haven ID program drew the wrath of anti-immigrant groups. They held rallies, sent death threats and tried, so far unsuccessfully, to make a public information request for the names of everyone who had applied for the cards. But thousands of people applied anyway.

Jorge Estrada understands why all those people lined up. He said he'd do the same if an ID card were created in Fremont, where he lives. Estrada, who runs a housekeeping business with his wife, said he's often afraid to call the police because he's nervous such a call would lead to his deportation. Both Estrada and his wife are undocumented. (The Express agreed to use his maternal last name because he fears deportation.)

Estrada said he has had friends land in jail for hours because they didn't have identification cards to give police. While he doesn't have illusions that an ID card would solve all of his problems, he believes it would help. "People are going to feel more comfortable."

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/coal ... oid=830851

"People are going to feel more comfortable."

I'm a people and I won't.

Supporters say the cards could help illegal immigrants obtain services that call for identification, such as getting a library card. LGBT groups say it could help transgender people get an ID that lists their correct gender.

Illegal immigrants SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED to receive benefits or services for anything. And that INCLUDES a library card.

"help transfender people get an id that lists their correct gender" Huh??

What is wrong with these people? Is there something in the water that is twisting their brains to irrational thought? Or is being an American citizen just not fashionable these days?

Or is being an American citizen just not fashionable these days?

Sure doesn't seem like it is.