{news} Stamford mayoral candidates disagree on IDs for illegal immigrants

Thu Oct 13 18:26:42 EDT 2005

(In this article, Darek Shapiro refers to the Individual Taxpayer 
Identification Number (ITIN), which the IRS issues regardless of immigration 
status:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html )

Stamford Advocate

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-id4oct13,0,4280529.story

Mayoral hopefuls disagree on IDs for illegal immigrants

By Vesna Jaksic
Staff Writer

October 13, 2005

STAMFORD -- The city's three mayoral candidates are split on whether illegal 
immigrants should be issued identification cards. New Haven Mayor John 
DeStefano said last week he wants to issue ID cards as part of a program 
that would help immigrants access city services.

Asked how he felt about the plan, Mayor Dannel Malloy said he would not run 
it in Stamford.

"This is not a proposal that I embrace," he said. "The reality is that 
immigration, both legal and illegal, is a federal issue. And on the other 
hand, we have certain obligations to provide services as required by the 
law, such as education and to treat people fairly. But to try to circumvent 
or violate the federal law is not something that local governments should 
get involved with."

DeStefano, a Democrat running against Malloy for the party's 2006 
gubernatorial nomination who like Malloy is running in the state's 2006 
gubernatorial race, proposed the program last week.

He has since said that legal experts were looking into whether such a 
proposal is lawful. DeStefano's office has received calls from local and 
national media since the announcement was made, setting off another heated 
debate on immigration.

Darek Shapiro, the Green Party's mayoral candidate, said DeStefano had a 
good idea, but that he would not propose the same plan in Stamford.

"I think DeStefano is on the right idea, but the idea is not really 
addressing the problem," he said. "We need to be able to do this on the 
state level."

Shapiro said he would encourage illegal immigrants to get a tax ID number, 
which allows them to pay taxes when they cannot get a Social Security 
number. After two years of paying taxes, they will qualify for a "temporary 
driver's license," he said, pointing out that he would work with DeStefano, 
other mayors and state legislators to pass the proposal.

Christopher Munger, a Republican who is challenging Malloy for Stamford's 
top elected seat, said he was not ready to say how he felt about such a 
plan.

"That's a really complicated issue that involves federal, state and local 
agencies," he said. "I'd have to really give it some deep thorough research 
before I take a stand on it."

While several states have toyed with ideas about how to help illegal 
immigrants get identification, DeStefano's proposal is the first by a 
municipality, immigration experts said. Most immigrants' advocates said it 
is a good idea but has its disadvantages.

Such cards may help immigrants access services on the local level, but they 
will not be valid in federal buildings or airports, said Deborah Meyers, a 
senior policy analyst for the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, 
D.C., a nonpartisan think-tank which studies dedicated to studying migration 
patterns.

"Any locality certainly is able to issue documents to individuals living in 
that locality, but the issue is whether those documents will be accepted as 
proof of federal identity, and I don't think they would," she said.

Anti-immigration activists said such programs help boost illegal 
immigration.

"Illegal immigration is a problem that when you accommodate it or make it 
easier for illegals to stay in the country, you just increase the problem," 
said Paul Streitz, director of Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, 
which aims to limit numbers of illegal and legal immigrants.

Streitz said such a proposal would violate a section of the U.S. Code that 
says criminal penalties may be issued to anyone who "encourages or induces 
an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States" knowing his or 
her entry or stay violates law.

But Josh Bernstein, director of federal policy at the National Immigration 
Law Center, which promotes immigrants' rights, said such proposals do not 
affect numbers of illegal immigrants.

"Is anybody making a decision about whether to come to the United States and 
stay here on whether they'll get an ID card in the city of New Haven?" he 
said. "No, you're not affecting immigration one way or another. What you're 
affecting is public safety in the city."

Still, Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration 
Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research organization that 
wants to lower immigration numbers, questioned the proposal's legality.

"I think most people would say either you argue to change the law or enforce 
the law but not have a situation that the county or state or city government 
would work to subvert the law," he said. "That's what this would explicitly 
be."

Derek Slap, DeStefano's press secretary, said he did not have details on how 
the cards would be issued because the proposal is in its early stages. But 
essentially, the cards would allow foreign aliens who are not able to get 
state-issued identification such as driver's licenses to get a card that 
would help them access city services, Slap said.

"The mayor originally expressed it as this is something that would be of 
value to a lot of people in the city," he said. "There are a lot of good 
reasons to do it but that doesn't mean it's going to happen in the next few 
days."

Audrey Singer, immigration fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings 
Institution, a nonpartisan think-tank, said such a program aims to bring 
immigrants out of the shadows. But because the plan would target 
undocumented aliens, many may be afraid to apply, she said.

"It's really kind of interesting and I'm not surprised it's blown up," she 
said of the media attention surrounding DeStefano's proposal, which made it 
to The New York Times and CNN in addition to local media. "It's a 
controversial idea from all sides. . . I think this is an issue that a lot 
of communities are confronting right now."

While immigration is federally governed, more municipalities have been 
dealing with it because they have felt the impact in their schools, housing 
and other venues. City-issued ID cards for illegal immigrants may become 
more common as a result, said Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy 
research at the Washington, D.C.-based National Council of La Raza, the 
country's largest Hispanic civil rights organization.

"Businesses want to market to them, banks want them to open accounts, police 
want them to be able to identify themselves," she said. "So I think that 
this might be a creative solution that some localities try to deal with it."