SAN DIEGO — Lawmakers in Sacramento are pushing to expand eligibility for a state-issued ID card to all Californians regardless of immigration status.
AB 1766, also known as "California ID for All," has already passed the state Assembly, and is now heading to to the state Senate floor for a vote in the coming days.
If passed, California would be the first state in the country to offer a state ID to undocumented immigrants.
This legislation builds on California's law passed almost a decade ago that grants driver licenses to undocumented immigrants, providing access to a state-issued identification to everybody.
This legislation would cover an estimated 1.7 million undocumented people living in California, who don't have access to a driver license.
"There's a lot of people that need an ID that can't drive," said immigrant rights activist Enrique Morones, founder of Gente Unida. "You have people with disabilities, you have people who are elderly."
"It is really about ensuring a baseline quality-of-life for every person living in this state," said Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-59), who co-authored this legislation.
He told CBS 8 that it would fill the "glaring gap" left behind by AB 60, the California law offering licenses regardless of immigration status.
He said a state-issued identification is critical.
"Without any kind of ID, official identification, you can't open a bank account, you can't rent an apartment or home, you can't even cash a hard-earned check.," Jones-Sawyer added.
"Having an ID is very empowering," Morones said, pointing out that this would be state-issued and not a federal document.
"This doesn't help you get on a plane, it doesn't help you vote," he explained. "It's not for that: it's just an identification."
Critics, though, like the group We the People Rising, have blasted this bill. Its executive director said in a statement: "This legislation would encourage more illegal immigration to our state by rewarding federal lawbreaking with a state identification for all. How is this sustainable?"
"Nobody is coming to this country to get an ID card," Morones countered. "This is a country where we should be able to welcome people, let them live with dignity and respect, and that ID provides that dignity in many respects."
This state identification would be issued thru the Department of Motor Vehicles, which has already issued more than 1.1 million drivers licenses through AB 60.
A recent budget analysis find that the additional staffing costs created by this new legislation would be offset by the revenue generated by the ID card application fees.
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