The Honorable James Sensenbrennner, Chairman
House Judiciary Committee
2332 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable John Conyers, Ranking Member
House Judiciary Committee
2426 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Re: H.R. 4043, Driver's License Federal Mandate Bill
Dear Mr. Chairman and Representative Conyers:
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its approximately 300,000 members, we urge you to oppose H.R. 4043, a bill imposing a federal mandate requiring states to link their driver's license and identification systems to immigration status. We believe H.R. 4043 is a wholly unnecessary federal mandate that will do serious damage to two fundamental civil liberties values: the rights of immigrants to equal treatment under the law, and the right of everyone to be free of unnecessary government interference through the creation of a de facto national identification card.
There are strong public policy reasons for a state to choose not to link its driver's license to immigration status.[1] Depriving large numbers of noncitizens of the ability to legally operate a motor vehicle will increase the number of unlicensed and uninsured drivers and thereby harm public safety. Moreover, the bill's poorly-worded provisions may bar states from issuing driver's licenses to asylum seekers and others lawfully present in the country. For example, under this bill, a Tibetan who suffers persecution on account of his faith and applies for asylum instead of returning to his country could be deprived of the ability to drive - even if authorities determine he faces a ""credible fear"" of persecution. Likewise, a Saudi woman on a temporary visa who is suffering violence at the hands of her husband, and applies for relief under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), could be barred by our government from legally driving - exactly what we criticize the Saudi government for doing.
Moreover, the Flake bill will have no positive impact on security, as drivers licenses are not needed to board airplanes (foreign passports suffice), or on enforcement of laws against immigrants obtaining benefits or employment, as drivers licenses are not accepted to prove immigration status. Instead, H.R. 4043 will further undermine security by continuing to drive a wedge of mistrust between immigrants and state authorities, making immigrants less likely to report crime and otherwise cooperate with government officials.
Yet under H.R. 4043, states that choose not to go along with this unnecessary and discriminatory policy will be severely punished, by having their citizens deprived of the ability to use a state driver's license or other identification document for any federal purpose, including, effectively, the ability to travel on commercial airlines. They will face this punishment despite the fact that implementation of H.R. 4043 will require training of motor vehicle personnel in the intricacies of immigration law and documents and upgrading of mechanisms for communication with INS, all of which will be very expensive - and will inevitably lead to frequent mistakes, as INS databases are not designed for this purpose and are notoriously unreliable. Moreover, H.R. 4043 is an unfunded mandate. While it contains an authorization for appropriations, no funding is guaranteed, and the mandate is imposed even if adequate funds are not appropriated.
Some who have said they oppose national identification proposals have claimed linking existing state driver's licenses to federal immigration status are somehow not national ID proposals. Requiring state governments to link their motor vehicle licensing process to a wholly unrelated and highly complex federal regulatory scheme, on pain of depriving the state's citizens from being able to board commercial airline flights, will inevitably open the door for a host of other federal requirements on state driver's licenses. Such a precedent invites federal legislation whenever Congress decides it wishes to enlist the state motor vehicle departments in implementing public policy.
H.R. 4043 plainly establishes a national identification system, and a discriminatory one at that. We urge you to oppose H.R. 4043 and leave the administration of state driver's license laws where it belongs - with the state legislatures.
Sincerely,
Laura W. Murphy
Director, ACLU Washington National Office
Timothy H. Edgar
ACLU Legislative Counsel
Katie Corrigan
ACLU Legislative Counsel
Cc: Members of the Judiciary Committee
[1] For a more detailed treatment of the issue, see Michele L. Waslin, Safe Roads, Safe Communities: Immigrants and State Driver's License Requirements, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Issue Brief No. 6, May 2002, available at http://www.nclr.org/policy/briefs/drivers_license_issue_brief_6.pdf.