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HispanicVista Columnists
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By
Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com - June 2, 2009
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Repeal the Real ID Act – so
say 23, so must all say.
- By Patrick Osio,
Jr.
- It’s time for the remaining states to join the 23 in demanding Congress repeal this very foolish act. And if we are to have a National ID, then let the issue be openly debated with those for and those against having an opportunity to have a say on a very important issue for all Americans.
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- Patrick Osio, Jr. is a columnist for the San Diego Metropolitan Magazine and co-founder of TransBorder Communications. Contact as POsioJr@aol.com
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- Article written on passage of Real ID Act on February
28, 2005 by Patrick Osio
- Sensenbrenner Real ID Act provides the long sought National Identification Americans have for so long yearned.
- http://www.hispanicvista.com/hvc/Columnist/posiojr/022805osio.htm
- Press release from state of
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- 23 States Push Back Against Unfunded Mandate To Create National ID
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- May 18, 2009
- CONTACT: Linda Paris, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org
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- “23 states have now sent a clear message to
- As part of creating a national identification card, the Real ID Act of 2005 also mandates that states hold all Americans' private information in a single database that is accessible to federal and state officials – the cost and security of which is unknown. Consequently, the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures have expressed strong opposition to the Real ID Act.
- Since its enactment – as evident by the rejection of 23 states -- Real ID has faced significant resistance on the state level. During her January confirmation hearing, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano called for a review of Real ID, saying the states were not consulted enough in its creation and that the initiative is a fiscal burden on the states. Before heading up DHS, Napolitano was Governor of Arizona, where she enacted legislation prohibiting her state from complying with the requirements of Real ID.
- Because Real IDs require significantly more background information than a driver’s license, privacy experts fear that the government will now have access to an unprecedented amount of highly sensitive information about citizens and that there will be an exponential rise in identity theft from the database where the information is stored.
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A hastily and secretly drawn up piece of legislation that was buried in a major bill back in 2005 because a die-hard anti immigrant Congressman tried to hide his contempt for brown faced Mexican and Central Americans pushed the bill through without floor debate under the guise of “stopping terrorism” is now playing out and dying as it attempts to go into force.
That bill, Real ID Act of 2005, was authored by Congressman Sensenbrenner (R-WI) was actually his way of stopping states from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Supported by like minded extremists, decided that states were incapable of deciding for their state who should or should not have a state driver’s license.
Legislation that is not scrutinized and
debated have a history of either going nowhere or becoming bad
law. Such is the case of the Real ID Act. Since it was buried in
an
The sad part was that a lot of Americans
were buying into this bunk. Questions on the reasoning were
never asked – such as “are we to believe that some poor persons
deep in Mexico or Central America will upon reading he cannot
get a driver’s license if he treks to and enters the US to find
work will then cancel the trip?” “If this works, why is it that
in
No one bothered to reason that a foreign tourist who enters the US legally, as did all the 9/11 terrorists, have no US state driver’s license and can fly within the US by showing the country’s passport issued to them. In other words, foreign tourists do not need a driver’s license.
This foolish bill caused another problem –
the de facto creation of a National ID card under the name of
“Driver’s License.”
It calls for every American citizen and legal Permanent Resident
to present proof of citizenship when either applying for the
first time or when renewing. That means having to take birth
certificate, or nationalization papers, proof of citizenship of
another country with proof of legal residency in the
It sounds easy, right? OK, but if a woman’s name has changed from the birth certificate or the original Social Security card issued due to marriage, additional papers have to be submitted. Divorced and remarried women would have more papers to present. And who would be the judge as to the acceptance of all these papers? A clerk at a DMV office.
Once obtaining the new, tamper proof and more if not impossible to forge driver’s license, it can then be used to board airplanes – no license no boarding. And all the massive information regarding each applicant would be placed into a national computer database available to all law enforcement agencies in the nation, and of course, other government agencies as needed (whose criteria? You tell me).
During 2005, the estimates to comply were calculated to be somewhere between $25 to $30 billion, it has since grown to an expected $75 to $100 billion. Each state is to pay for their cost. So here is a case where the Federal government mandates and imposes a cost on each state without the state having a say on the matter. And, a state refusing to go along with the program would be punished – severely punished along with the state’s citizens.
Citizens and resident of such states would be denied access to all federal facilities as well as denied boarding passes on air flights. States would be deprived of federal highway funds, though their citizens would continue to pay gasoline taxes that fund such funding.
The good news is that as of May 2009, a total of 23 states’ legislatures and governors have overwhelmingly rejected the Real ID Act.
Patrick
Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican
perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an
in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding
Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business
relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin
relationships and business deals.
The manual is available through Electronic delivery for $9.95 making it possible to download the manual for save on your hard drive, printing its entirety or particular sections while reaping considerable savings over printed copies.