REAL ID Comes Under Fire in the States
Bush Homeland Security Budget Reiterates Call for Guest Worker Amnesty Program
Congressman Brian Bilbray Appointed Chair of House Immigration Reform Caucus
Sessions Amendment to Minimum Wage Bill Greeted with Ire by Big Business
Recent Floor Statements
Press Releases
REAL ID Comes Under Fire in the States
On January 25, 2007, the Maine Legislature passed a resolution declaring it would refuse to implement the REAL ID Act and urging Congress to repeal it. Through this action, Maine has become one of a growing number of states seeking to undermine the REAL ID Act. According to the Associated Press, lawmakers in nearly a dozen states are contemplating similar legislation, including Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Utah. Other states, such as Nevada, are in the process of drafting legislation.
Background on REAL ID The 9/11 Commission recommended the passage of stricter driver's license measures after the chilling discovery that most, if not all of the 9/11 terrorists had state-issued driver's licenses, and that at least two were able to obtain valid driver's licenses and other identification documents after their visas had expired. In 2005, Congress responded to the 9/11 Commission Report by passing the REAL ID Act, effectively barring people in the country illegally from obtaining driver's licenses.
The REAL ID Act provides that in order for state licenses to be accepted as ID by federal agencies, the states must adopt certain issuing guidelines by May 2008. These guidelines include a requirement that the applicant establish his or her full legal name and date of birth; address of his or her principal residence; legal presence in the U.S.; and proof of a social security number or verification of the individual's ineligibility for a social security number. On the driver's licenses, the states must print an individual's full legal name and principal address and imbed a digital photo and certain physical security features.
Thus, REAL ID does not directly impose documentation requirements on the states, but instead provides that driver's licenses that are not issued in accordance with these standards by May 2008 will not be accepted by federal agencies for identification purposes. This will have an impact on citizens in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most visible will be flying on commercial airlines, for which showing an ID is necessary to board an aircraft.
Myth Versus RealityOpponents to the REAL ID Act in Maine and other states have fueled the debate over secure driver’s licenses by inaccurately claiming that REAL ID will create a national ID and a national database of driver’s license information. However, REAL ID does not establish a national ID. Instead, by establishing a core set of requirements for state driver’s licenses, it prevents one from becoming necessary. REAL ID was designed by the Congress to provide a federalist alternative to national control of identity documents. Strengthening the security of the existing state systems will avoid any further calls for a national ID system in the event of future attacks by foreign terrorists.
Moreover, REAL ID does not establish a national database of driver’s license information. The Act sets up a process to enable all states to electronically confirm driver’s license data, regardless of where the license is issued. The Act requires the states to use uniform bar coding devices carrying the holder’s name, date of birth, and driver’s license number so that if someone is stopped in another state, this information—the same information already carried on driver’s licenses—can be uniformly confirmed by law enforcement. As for confirmation, the system providing law enforcement with an electronic link to state driver’s license records will not allow access to the content of state databases, but will only allow a yes-no confirmation of data presented. Thus, REAL ID allows police and transportation security personnel to confirm that driver’s licenses presented are genuine and validly issued, but will not allow federal law enforcement officers to snoop into state driver’s license databases. This will work similarly to a database of driver's license information already used by many states to verify whether applicants have licenses in other states.
Because of the stricter documentation requirements created by the law, the REAL ID Act is critical for combating terrorism, illegal immigration and identity theft. As the de facto identity document used in this country, driver’s licenses are coveted by illegal aliens as a way of making themselves invisible to immigration authorities. Contrary to what REAL ID opponents would have citizens believe, the law does not violate the privacy of law-abiding Americans; rather it requires states to improve the process of issuing driver’s licenses so that they serve as secure and reliable forms of identification.
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Bush Homeland Security Budget Reiterates Call for Guest Worker Amnesty Program
Last week, President Bush unveiled his fiscal year 2008 Budget for the Department of Homeland Security. As expected, the document reiterates President Bush's call for a guest worker amnesty program and declares that the "Administration is dedicated to comprehensive reform of America's immigration laws...." The budget highlights five areas the Administration feels must be addressed for "comprehensive" reform to succeed. These are: (1) border security; (2) interior enforcement; (3) implementing a guest worker program allow employers to hire foreign workers "to do jobs Americans are unwilling to do"; (4) addressing the millions of illegal aliens already in the country; and (5) helping new immigrants assimilate. This plan, the budget states, will "serve the needs of the economy…bring illegal immigrants out of the shadows without providing amnesty, and restore public confidence in the Federal Government's ability to enforce immigration laws."
While the Bush Administration is calling on Congress to pass a guest worker amnesty program, it is also calling on Congress to increase funding for border security. Under the proposed budget, the Department of Homeland Security would see a budget increase of approximately $3 billion. This money would include funding for 3,000 new Border Patrol Agents - bringing the total to more than 17,000 by October 2008. This plan would also provide an additional $26.4 million for training state and local police to enforce immigration laws, and $28.7 million to find and deport illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds.
House and Senate Committees will have several hearings related to President Bush's budget proposal for FY08 over the next couple weeks. Most observers expect the budget to undergo significant changes as House and Senate members add their input and adjust the language to reflect their own priorities.
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Congressman Brian Bilbray Appointed Chair of House Immigration Reform Caucus
Last week, Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) announced that he has been selected to assume chairmanship of the prestigious House Immigration Reform Caucus. Congressman Bilbray will be taking over for the current chairman, Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who wishes to hand over the reins in order to pursue his presidential ambitions.
A longtime champion of true immigration reform, Congressman Bilbray has worked on a variety of immigration issues over the span of two decades. Having grown up on the border in San Diego and served as Mayor and County Supervisor in southern California, Congressman Bilbray brings to this important position key insight regarding the need to secure our borders, the importance of cracking down on employers who hire illegal aliens, and the cost of illegal immigration to taxpayers. To read more about Congressman Bilbray, click here.
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Sessions Amendment to Minimum Wage Bill Greeted with Ire by Big Business
** Readers, please note that rumors circulating over the internet that the McCain-Kennedy Bill was amended to the Minimum Wage Bill are simply untrue. The following is important information about a good amendment that was attached to the Minimum Wage Bill.**
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week launched a full-scale assault at an amendment to the Minimum Wage Bill (H.R.2) they see as detrimental to the interests of big business. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), bars companies that intentionally hire illegal aliens from receiving federal contracts for a period of seven to ten years. The amendment provides immunity for any business that voluntarily enrolls in the Homeland Security Department's Basic Pilot program, a program that electronically verifies the work eligibility of job applicants. The amendment passed the Senate 94-0, but its fate is uncertain as members of the House-Senate conference committee must agree to incorporate it into the final version of the bill.
In press release issued shortly after passage, the Chamber called the Sessions amendment the equivalent of "blacklisting," and asserted that "[t]here are already ample protections in the procurement regulations to ensure grants and contracts to the federal government are performed by the most qualified and responsible bidders." According to CongressDaily, the Chamber of Commerce and other opponents of the amendment are looking at a potential coalition to fight this legislation, much like the National Alliance Against Blacklisting, which opposed President Clinton's initiative to require employers seeking federal contracts to swear that they had not violated state or federal laws for three years prior to the awarding of a contract. Proving that politics makes for strange bedfellows, the American Civil Liberties Union and the AFL-CIO are also working to strip Senator Sessions' amendment from the wage bill.
Some observers feel the Sessions amendment will be difficult to defeat because lawmakers in both parties believe that it makes sense to punish federal contractors for hiring illegal aliens. However, the clout of the business lobby means that stripping the language in conference committee is entirely possible. Speaking to CongressDaily, Senator Mel Martinez remarked, "A lot of things get passed that ultimately in conference get cleaned up."
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Recent Floor Statements
Rep. Brian Bilbray(R-CA) commented on Free Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos And Jose Compean (February 7, 2007)
Rep. Walter Jones(R-NC) commented on Amnesty For U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ramos And Compean (February 7, 2007)
Rep. Marsha Blackburn(R-TN) commented on Former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos And Jose Compean (February 7, 2007)
Rep. Walter Jones(R-NC) commented on Imprisonment Of Two U.S. Border Patrol Agents (February 6, 2007)
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Press Releases
Mexican legislators will travel to Chicago to Visit Elvira Arellano (February 9, 2007)
REAL ID Offers Real Protections to Personal and National Security (February 7, 2007)
Radio Talk Show Immigration Rally Set to Take Place in Washington, DC (February 5, 2007)