"S.F. supervisor drafting legislation for ID card for illegals"

S.F. supervisor drafting legislation for ID card for illegals

Wyatt Buchanan
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, September 7, 2007

http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi? f=/c/a/2007/ 09/07/MNUAS0O6Q. DTL

San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano is drafting legislation to
create a city identification card for immigrants unable to get
traditional ID cards, a move likely to anger advocates of tougher
immigration enforcement.

The cards would be accepted by all city agencies and organizations
that receive city funding. Ammiano plans to introduce the
legislation within a couple of weeks. He also is trying to persuade
financial institutions to allow residents to use the cards to open
accounts.

"There is a large community who contribute, and there are not a lot
of safeguards around their (immigration) status, their piece of mind
and their ability to participate, " Ammiano said, adding that the
card would be available to all people living in San Francisco
regardless of their immigration status.

San Francisco could be the first large American city to have such a
card. New Haven, Conn., has such a program, and New York City is
considering one.

Ammiano said the impetus for the city cards came from the immigrant
community, which asked for his help. Illegal immigrants who are
victims or witnesses of crime often do not report the incident
because they have no identification and fear deportation.
Identification also is needed for many services, such as city health
care.

San Francisco already has a sanctuary policy for immigrants, which
means no city agency, including the police, will assist the federal
government to deport people. So-called sanctuary cities have become
a major issue among Republican presidential candidates.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has been
attacking former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - including during a
debate Wednesday night - over his city's sanctuary status. Romney
broadcast a radio advertisement in Iowa and New Hampshire, where a
voice-over states, "Immigration laws don't work if they're not
enforced. That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco
and New York."

Later in the ad, Romney himself says that as president he would "cut
back federal funds to cities that provide sanctuary to illegal
immigrants," a pledge he repeated at the debate.

Mayor Gavin Newsom has been resolute in defending San Francisco's
sanctuary status, and on Thursday his spokesman said Newsom supports
Ammiano's idea for a card, which could be used for libraries, golf
courses, public transportation and other services.

"The mayor strongly believes that this identification card should be
extended to all San Franciscans, regardless of their immigration
status," said Nathan Ballard, the mayor's spokesman.

The card also would be available to homeless people who prove they
live in the city through a letter from a social service agency,
Ammiano said. Currently, single-room- occupancy hotels require guests
to leave an identification card at the front desk to enter the
premises, which has been a burden on homeless visitors, Ammiano
said.

Elderly people, youth and transgender people who face barriers to
getting identification also would benefit from the card, he said.

New Haven began issuing the cards this summer. The application for
the card is a simple form on which people can request that the
information remain confidential. The card allows users access to the
library and other public facilities and to put up to $150 on the
card to pay for parking meters and for purchases at 50 stores in the
city.

One immigrant-rights advocate said she had a "good feeling" about
the cards becoming a reality in San Francisco.

"While they would not provide people permission to drive, and people
aren't able to use them outside of San Francisco, they will really
help undocumented immigrants ... with day-to-day functions," said
Renee Saucedo, co-director of the San Francisco Day Labor Program, a
project of La Raza Centra Legal.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronic le.com.

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