Immigrants’ human rights groups supportive of Philadelphia’s new municipal ID system set to roll out in January
“I am really excited,” said Blanca Pacheco, co-director of Kensington’s New Sanctuary Movement. “I’ve heard from several of our members that they’re excited and hopeful, and they are waiting for the city to share more details.”
A report by the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed last week the city plans to initiate a municipal ID system, similar to what other major cities, such as New York and Chicago, have in place. The city plans to roll out the IDs in January.
“Because of immigration status, financial limitations, youth, or other reasons, some people cannot obtain valid ID cards from the state or federal governments, or else run into obstacles when they try to do so,” the Inquirer report reads. “A municipal ID card is an alternative.”
The Review reached out to immigrant rights groups in the city to gather more opinions about how the immigrant community feels about the planned municipal IDs.
“We’ve seen for over a decade how not having a valid form of identification has led to countless families being torn apart in our city by ICE’s deportation machine,” said Miguel Andrade, communications manager of Juntos, a community-led, Latinx immigrant organization in South Philadelphia fighting for human rights as workers, parents, youth, and immigrants. “While a municipal ID is not a stand-in for other forms of ID such as a driver’s license, it’s a step in the right direction.”
“I am really excited,” said Blanca Pacheco, co-director of Kensington’s New Sanctuary Movement. “I’ve heard from several of our members that they’re excited and hopeful, and they are waiting for the city to share more details.”
Andrade said the IDs can help immigrants who would like to do things like volunteer at their children’s schools, which often required an ID. It can also be necessary for trips to the emergency room, Andrade said.
However, the IDs can benefit more than just immigrants. They can also benefit the LGBT community, and returning citizens who have recently gotten out of prison.
“Too often, immigrants and other marginalized communities such as the LGBTQ community, returning citizens, and low-income folk have had their identities erased,” Andrade said. “The municipal ID program is a way for our city to let these communities know that they matter.”
Andrade said the IDs allow returning citizens to feel “respected and integrated” and allow those in the LGBT community to have identification that “accurately represents their ID.”
Additionally, he said, it can provide identification for people under the age of 18 since the city plans to issue IDs for people ages 13 and older.
Pacheco said NSM worked with the city to make sure the IDs would be rolled out in a way that was beneficial to immigrants, not detrimental. The IDs could potentially be detrimental to immigrants if, say, the city decided to share people’s information with other governmental organizations, such as ICE. Pacheco said the city was receptive to NSM’s advice and seemed responsive to the group’s suggestions.
“The indication was that they would not share or store data from people,” Pacheco said.
She expects residents will likely need only a bill with a home address or a consular ID to acquire an ID with the city, although the details have yet to be actually released by the city.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, consulate IDs are identification cards issued by the consulate offices of foreign governments, and their main purpose is to give expatriated nationals identification to use in foreign countries.
“From the city, it’s more official than a consular ID,” Pacheco said. “Many places treat you differently when you have a consular ID that says you’re from a different country.”
Pacheco seemed happy with the direction the city is heading in its attempts to protect immigrants, especially after Mayor Jim Kenney and City Solicitor Marcel Pratt’s recent decision not to renew the city’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allows ICE to access the Philadelphia Police Department’s PARS database. PARS is a records database used by the courts, police, the District Attorney’s Office, and other law enforcement authorities.
For a time, and under certain conditions, Philadelphia — including the Philadelphia Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and the First Judicial District — agreed to share certain limited information from PARS with ICE, but that agreement will be allowed to expire on Aug. 31 and will not be renewed.
“Philadelphia has been fighting to keep sanctuary status,” said Pacheco. “Now giving IDs to people, it really shows that the city cares about immigrants and that it’s becoming more welcoming and appreciative of immigrants.”
