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Civil rights group marks MLK Day with call for 'Trump card' national ID
A prominent civil rights group is marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day by pressing President Trump to honor his promise to create a national photo ID card for citizens.
Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the iconic civil rights leader and a co-chairmen of the Drum Major Institute, met with Trump two years ago on MLK Day. During that meeting, the then president-elect endorsed the idea of a national photo ID. This year, the group is calling on Trump to follow through.
William Wachtel, co-founder of the Drum Major Institute, said the group sees the issue as critical to ensuring King's work to remove barriers to voting.
[...] The idea has invited controversy in the past, in particular over privacy concerns. In 2013, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a measure, the Protect Our Privacy Act, attached to a Senate immigration bill. The Paul amendment sought to prevent the creation of a national ID card, citing worries that it would make it easier for the government to track people. Wachtel sought to ease concerns about such an ID, saying it would not be mandatory and would only be an option for those who sought it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Monday January 21 2019, @07:45PM (5 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @08:38PM
Presumably a national ID card would state whether you are a citizen or not. Some states, like California, will give their state drivers' licenses out to non-citizens, so possession of a state ID card proves nothing as far as citizenship goes.
The reason this may be considered a civil rights issue is that as voting fraud by non-citizens is easy, the votes by citizens who are in minority groups are thus diluted. If voting required an ID that actually stated citizenship status or lack thereof, voting fraud would be more difficult.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday January 21 2019, @08:55PM (3 children)
While I am usually against anti-privacy things, I actually like the idea of a National ID card.
But, for my support, it needs to replace the others. Get rid of State Drivers Licenses, State/County IDs, and even social security and medicare cards. Replace them all with this one single entity. As for passports, maybe... If it works well enough, after all don't passports require stamping at the border which would not be feasible with a laminated National ID that was modeled off of current state driver's licenses?
If you think that you are not being tracked already, you are clueless.
Also, these databases are already linked together whether you realize it or not.
The National ID card should be/needs to be free as well. People should not have to pay just for identification (especially if it is ever used for voter verification as alluded to in other posts.)
States can still enact charges for driving privileges... but instead of issuing separate cards, they can just electronically attach driving status to the id... After all, when you get pulled over now the first thing the cops do is run your plates through a database and figure out the most likely driver (and any possible threat) when you hand them your Driver's License, they scan and check that it is valid as well... Nothing that can't be done with a national ID instead.
Since all the laws passed after 9/11 and the patriot act dealing with identification, it is actually a pain in the ass to get a driver's license renewed. you need to bring proof of id like a birth certificate or passport, as well as a separate proof of address like a utility bill or bank statement. (and how easy is the latter in this day and age of online bill pay.) How many times do you want to subject yourself to that? At least with it being done federally, you only need to subject yourself as required by the feds and not based on a hodge-podge of various local laws.
Also, replacing state driver's licenses with a single card linked together would help accuracy... When I last renewed my driver's license, and dealt with the above mess of paperwork, my current state said that I was fine and ok to drive... BUT, a state I lived in back in 1995 said that my driving privileges were revoked. My current state said that the renewal would not go through until I clear up the issue in the other state.
The only information I was given was a phone number to the prior state's DMV. That state gave me a citation number and the local municipality that issued it and said deal with that city than call us back. I called the city court and they told me it was a parking ticket. I could pay it in person, on-line, or by mail with a 2 week processing delay. BUT I could not pay it online without a license plate number and they refused to tell me any other information... not even that my name was on the citation or type of car. Even if I could remember my license plate number from 20 years ago(which I can't), I still didn't know because I had 2 cars back then. Fortunately, I still have friends and relatives in the area and was able to get them to go, but they forgot to even check if the information on the citation was for one of my cars at the time. (Not that I could effectively fight a 20 year old ticket from 1,000 miles away.)
Once the citation was paid, I still had to deal with the old state dmv. They verified that it was paid, and then they wanted a separate $100 restoration fee. (f-ing crooks) On top of that they said I needed to file paperwork to clear up a problem with their records. I had not one, but two driver's licenses issued by the state and I needed to fix that. (It turns out the difference was one said I had green eyes, the other said I had blue eyes; and both with the same prior address.) They said they did not know how long it would take, that it takes in state residents about 4-6 weeks to clear it up and no idea how long it would take by mail. Due to the problem, I was unable to pay online...(f-this!!!) Once they got their money, I checked with my current state (and shocked that they did not enact their own surcharge) got my license renewed and have not even bothered to fix the prior state's flaw.
So what part of multiple databases and bureaucracies do you want to keep around on the ill-conceived notion that they don't already track you now?
Note: While the prior state has the "Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)" as a separate top level state agency... My current state has it as a division within the top level agency "Department of Revenue." That is truly what most states think of driving privileges... Revenue.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 21 2019, @09:38PM (2 children)
I've never had to show supporting documentation to renew my driver's license. I walk in, show my expired or expiring DL, slap some cash on the counter, wait a few minutes, step in front of the photo screen, and five minutes later, I'm out the door with a still warm laminated card in my wallet.
I also have one of those. I was ticketed for speeding, license was eventually suspended with the stipulation that they wouldn't be renewed until I attended classes. I laughed at them - I had important stuff to do, like a Med cruise. Years later, I learned that my "privileges" were STILL suspended in that state. Fek 'em. There is little to no chance that they'll ever catch up to me since my newest home state has severed the DL number/identity from your social security number. If I'm ever stopped in that state, and asked for SSN, I'll make one up on the spot.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @10:22PM
I'm sure your state still collects SSNs, even if they don't put them on their licenses. Plus, how did you get your current license without presenting your old one?
If you haven't gone through what GP went through yet, you're lucky your old state forgot - for now. There's no statute of limitations for government demands, and I doubt you'll find a lawyer that would help you even if the other state had errors in their records. May be hard getting to legal advice by bus also.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2019, @12:42AM
Only requires a birth certificate for your initial id or license (id can gotten at 15 or 16 regardless of driver's permit status, although almost nobody does), and a thumbprint (pre-9/11 fraud prevention, also required at banks for more than a 100 or 1000 dollar deposit now.) Even my last passport 10 years ago only required a birth certificate plus state id photocopy for certification. Maybe this has changed in the years since, but if it has it is not because the need for more security has increased. As an alternative, go read Nevada's state id requirements. They have the same requirements as a federal employee or commercial transport worker id, which is full handprints and a bunch of background checking.