The Senate approved a spending bill which had the
REAL ID Act tacked onto it in conference committee, meaning the act has now passed both houses.
This insane law effectively creates a national ID card, but forces states to pay for it. It will create centralized databases that have personally identifying information along with biometric identifiers - all accessible to many thousands of government employees legally, inherently hard to protect from criminals and identity thieves. And among other things, you'll need to present your birth certficate to renew your existing drivers license. I wasn't born in this country and have no idea where my birth certificate is. I have a friend who homebirthed her children, and had trouble getting the local city hall to issue birth certificates for them. Imagine what this will mean for poor immigrants, with spotty English - they'll have trouble travelling, getting jobs, or registering for government programs.
The ACLU directed me to their web form for sending email to Congress about READ ID. They provide a form letter, but I mostly rewrote it. Here is mine...
The REAL ID Act...
- Is a huge unfunded mandate on the states, which will increase taxes, and make it even harder for states to find the money to spend on actually protecting us from attacks. Real security comes from things like port inspections, public health networks, and public safety readiness - which are all underfunded.
- Will create a central database of personal information. This database would include not only standard identifying information such as name, address, and social security number, but also biometric information, which could include DNA, retinal scans or fingerprints. Thousands of government workers will have access to this personal information, and it will be a target for criminals.
Incidents of identity theft will likely skyrocket.
- REAL ID imposes federal control over state drivers licenses, even if federal policies conflict with the state's own policies. The use of state motor vehicle agencies as agents of the federal immigration service would lead to an increase in unlicensed drivers, undermining public safety and increasing insurance rates for everyone. State motor vehicle employees lack training in federal immigration law, and may instead rely on ethnic profiling based on notions of who "looks foreign."
- I fear that the way this law is implemented will present a substantial barrier to many people, especially the poor, those who do not drive, those who do not yet speak English well, and those who are apprehensive about contact with government - many for understandable reasons related to the recent surge in unjustified ethnic profiling. These people will have a harder time travelling, finding jobs, and communicating with municipal and government agencies. They will become further disconnected from society, leading to more strife, poverty, and crime.
I want to express my complete opposition to the REAL ID Act. I am deeply disappointed that Congress allowed this draconian and disastrous measure to be attached to another bill and passed with no debate. I also urge you to support legislation such as the Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 2005, which would ameliorate some of the harm of this legislation.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important matter.
Send your own letter and call your Senators and Representative.