American Civil Liberties Union

It’s a strange situation. What if they passed a federal statute that no one obeyed? Typically this isn’t a problem – there are a host of federal entities tasked with making sure that what Congress passes is followed. But in the case of Real ID, that is exactly what has happened.

The Real ID Act was aimed at improving drivers’ license security but its actual effect would have been to turn those same licenses into a national ID card. The law required a national database of all drivers and a common way for all licenses to be read by scanners. States would have to meet the standards in order for their citizens to use their driver’s licenses to board airplanes or enter federal facilities.

Veterans of Washington D.C. political scene are well familiar with congressional staff briefings. For the overwhelming majority of you who don’t share that dubious honor, these briefings are aimed at congressional staff and the public in an effort to avoid holding many individual meetings on a specific issue. They are typically dry affairs with a few panelists and some Q&A.

That was not the experience I had yesterday afternoon. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, held a briefing on legislation that would make the E-Verify program mandatory. E-Verify is an ongoing effort by the federal government to essentially produce a giant list of everyone who is authorized to work in the United States. Supporters want all employers to check it before they can hire a new employee. As the ACLU has said in the past, the system is riddled with errors, keeps lawful employees from working, lacks due process and may result in a national ID system.

Citing a variety of privacy concerns, a broad coalition of advocacy groups from across the political spectrum including libertarians, consumer groups and privacy advocates sent letters to both the House and Senate Monday opposing a mandatory E-Verify system. Problems with the system include increased identity theft and the danger of a national ID system. The letters include a full list of signatories and in-depth description of the privacy problems with the legislation.