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REAL ID – Part II

By immigrationprof

Five of North Carolina’s seven Republican members of Congress introduced legislation yesterday that could cost the state more than $800 million in highway money each year if the state doesn’t tighten its requirements to issue a driver’s license. The proposal would penalize six states that accept Taxpayer Identification Numbers to issue driver’s permits: North Carolina, Utah, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Illinois. According to the most recent figures released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2003, there are more than 200,000 illegal immigrants living in North Carolina.

The ID numbers are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to taxpayers who do not have Social Security numbers.

The Congressmen say that the numbers are too easily duplicated and used by illegal immigrants to get state-issued driver’s licenses. “Stop giving illegal aliens driver’s licenses or you won’t see another dime in transportation dollars,” said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-9th, the main sponsor of the bill. “We are reacting to states not stepping up and responding to national security issues,” said U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-10th. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, said that the North Carolina General Assembly has tried to pass similar legislation several times. She said she and the others hope that the introduction of the bill will persuade Raleigh legislators to change state law. Also supporting the bill are U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd, and U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-11th. They say the bill is necessary for homeland security.

Opponents of the bill say that it duplicates the Real ID Act. The bill, which President Bush signed in May, mandates universal requirements for all states to follow when issuing driver’s licenses. The procedures must be in place by May 2008. “This is unnecessary and going overboard,” said Michele Waslin, the director of immigration policy at the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for immigrant rights.

Source: Winston-Salem Journal, A.P., Nov. 10, 2005

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