On Oct. 1, the District City Council postponed voting on a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for D.C. drivers licenses. According to Councilwoman Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), the details of the measure still need to be hammered out, and the bill will return to the Council for a vote in about two weeks time.
If passed, the bill will amend past legislation that requires the licenses of undocumented residents to be labeled “not valid for federal purposes.” In response to Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposal last May, “One City, One License” launched a campaign focused on issuing standard drivers licenses to all applicants in the District, including undocumented immigrants.
Issuing different licenses to undocumented immigrants merely invites more discrimination against an already highly marginalized minority that makes up a substantial portion of the District’s population. According the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, 13.6 percent of D.C.’s population was foreign born and an estimated 4.5 percent, or 25,000 people, were thought to be undocumented immigrants. Access to federal identification would improve the quality of life of this immigrant population by allowing them to use basic services that are inaccessible without a drivers license, such as creating bank accounts or finding housing.
Opponents to the bill claim that it violates the terms of the REAL ID Act of 2005 which requires that, in order to receive a federal ID, applicants must provide proof of legal residence. Additionally, detractors say that allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers licenses that are identical to those of legal residents would render D.C. residents’ licenses useless at federal security checkpoints. However, these claims are unfounded. Because the act is not a federal mandate, the District has the option to opt out of enforcing its terms, which it has largely chosen to do since the act was first implemented in 2005.
D.C. has so far built a reasonable track record in supporting immigrant rights. For example, in 2011, Mayor Gray issued an executive order prohibiting police officers from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status. When this bill comes to vote in the coming weeks the District should continue this trend of promoting equality. By issuing standard licences, the District will set the precedent that the government’s main concern should be the rights of all those who reside within its jurisdiction.
