WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Arizona is bidding to become the first state on the southern border to introduce new secure driver's licenses confirming the holder's citizenship, which can be used to enter the country and prove legal eligibility for work.
In a statement Friday, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano said she hoped the move would put the state on the leading edge of a movement “to an effective permanent program that can be implemented nationwide.”
But the plans -- which will have to be approved by the state Legislature, because they involve a new fee structure -- have provoked concern from civil liberties and immigrants’ rights groups, many of whom consider such proposals to be tantamount to the backdoor introduction of a national ID.
The new ID will be voluntary and may be a little more expensive than existing licenses, which cost between $10 and $25 in Arizona, depending on the age of the applicant. They will be available to any driver who can prove citizenship, identity and residence in the state.
The new licenses -- like those that will be piloted on the northern border by state governments in Washington and Vermont -- will allow their holders to enter the United States when tighter ID rules for U.S. citizens are introduced at the border next year.
Currently, U.S. citizens can enter the United States by land with little more than a driver’s license by way of identification. But the Department of Homeland Security says that from Jan. 31 next year, Americans wanting to cross the border will have to prove their citizenship -- for example with a passport or birth certificate.
The change was recommended by the Sept. 11 Commission as a way of making U.S. borders more secure against potential terrorists posing as citizens.
But fears the changes could bring border commerce and tourism to a grinding halt helped propel Washington and Vermont to pilot the new licenses, which can be used to enter the country because they confirm the holder is a U.S. citizen.
And in Arizona, according to Napolitano’s statement, employers will also be able to use them to check the legal status of potential new employees, helping them comply with tough new state laws against hiring illegal immigrants.
In June, Napolitano signed a new state immigration enforcement law, which comes into force in January and will require Arizona employers to check new hires against a federal database to ensure their legal status. Offenders are subject to the suspension, or on a second offence, the revocation of their business license.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry calls the new law “draconian” and has joined a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. A spokeswoman told United Press International the chamber was “cautiously welcoming” of the new IDs.
“This sounds like a step in the right direction,” said Ann Seiden. “If employers have a document that securely verifies eligibility (to work) it may soothe their fears (about the new law) a little bit.”
There may also be questions about the technology to be used. In Washington state, for instance, the new licenses will be equipped with controversial Radio Frequency Identity technology -- a chip embedded in the card that can be read at distances of up to 30 feet.
“We have problems with RFID technology,” Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU’s Democracy and Technology Project told UPI, “because it can be and will be intercepted.”
Napolitano said the new licenses will also be the first in the nation to comply with the requirements of the REAL ID Act, under which states have to meet strict security standards for their licenses to qualify for boarding planes or entering federal buildings. REAL ID-compliant licenses incorporate security features; require proof that applicants are in the country legally; and are tied to state databases that are compatible and accessible to facilitate national ID checks.
Because applicants will have to prove their legal presence in the country, REAL ID will have the effect of preventing undocumented immigrants from getting driver's licenses, which troubles some.
“From a humanitarian point of view, these individuals are going to lose the right to drive legally,” the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference told United Press International. “That means the right to get to work, to go buy groceries to feed their families, to get their children to school.”
The consequences, he said, would be “egregious” and the deterrent effect unclear. “We don’t see how these dots connect. … This is more of a political public relations exercise. The governor wants to show she is doing something about the immigration issue,” said Rodriguez, president of the conference, the nation’s largest organization of evangelical Hispanics.
“This will not stop one individual from crossing the border.”
Steinhardt was skeptical about Napolitano’s REAL ID claim. “How can it comply with REAL ID requirements when nobody knows what they are yet?” he asked, pointing out that Homeland Security officials have said they will revise the draft regulations published last spring in response to the criticism they provoked.
