September 29, 2009 - Posted by Amshula Jayaiam
A broad coalition of civil rights organizations is opposing the PASS ID Act, which was introduced in Congress in June in an effort to soften the REAL ID Act, a law that has drawn fierce criticism since it was enacted in 2005.
Under the REAL ID Act, all state-issued driver's licenses must include a set of standardized information, including digitized photographs and signatures. It also mandates the verification of an applicant's immigration status, background checks on documents used to prove identity, and the creation of a large interstate database of license records.
The PASS ID Act was introduced in response to widespread criticism of REAL ID, but its requirements for driver's licenses are largely the same. Civil rights groups argue that PASS ID would continue to violate basic laws of privacy, security, and to discriminate against religious minorities and immigrants.
In addition, nearly half of the states have already refused to comply with REAL ID because of the high cost of implementing its requirements. PASS ID doesn't address this concern, and could ultimately be rejected by states as well.
"This bill should repeal, not fix, the Real ID Act of 2005. The only fix in the Pass ID Act is the name. Congress might hope that the states who voted against implementing the Real ID Act will give them a pass on Pass ID, but that would be ill-advised," Chris Calabrese, counsel to the ACLU Technology and Liberty program, said in a July statement.
Categories: Immigration
