What effect would Real ID have on legal immigrants?
Real ID specifically targets immigrant drivers, and that group would be among those hardest-hit by the Act. The Act bars states from issuing a Real ID to any non-citizen who cannot prove that they are in an enumerated lawful immigration status through verified documentary evidence; fails the database check; or cannot prove their identity because they rely on foreign documents other than an official passport. Real ID would turn DMVs into sub-branches of the immigration service, forcing clerks to try to decide who can and cannot be given a license – despite the complexity of our immigration laws, which rivals that of our tax code, and the numerous legal categories that allow an individual to obtain legal status in the United States, and the even greater number of documents that verify that status. Training for motor vehicles employees could not possibly cover all of the technicalities of the immigration laws. And immigration databases are notoriously incomplete and error-ridden and might
Real ID specifically targets immigrant drivers, and that group would be among those hardest-hit by the Act. The Act bars states from issuing a Real ID to any non-citizen who cannot prove that they are in an enumerated lawful immigration status through verified documentary evidence; fails the database check; or cannot prove their identity because they rely on foreign documents other than an official passport. Real ID would turn DMVs into sub-branches of the immigration service, forcing clerks to try to decide who can and cannot be given a license despite the complexity of our immigration laws, which rivals that of our tax code, and the numerous legal categories that allow an individual to obtain legal status in the United States, and the even greater number of documents that verify that status. Training for motor vehicles employees could not possibly cover all of the technicalities of the immigration laws. And immigration databases are notoriously incomplete and error-ridden and might f
