Post by pavel on Apr 7, 2016 17:19:35 GMT -6
An El Paso-based immigrant rights group could see its hopes for a municipal ID card dashed after leaders there determined that issuing the card might prompt immigration hardliners to label the town a "sanctuary city."
In 2014, the El Paso-based Border Network for Human Rights launched a petition drive asking the city council to consider creating a standardized ID card available to city residents. The card would not reflect a person's legal status in the country but could be used as proof of residency by undocumented immigrants waiting to apply for President Obama’s executive action on immigration, which is stalled in the courts.
The ID could also be used to open bank accounts, protect day laborers and other workers paid day-to-day from predatory check-cashing agencies that charge high fees and be used to access city services like libraries and emergency care, proponents argue.
Oakland and San Francisco issue similar cards, and the petition to launch them in El Paso garnered more than 10,000 signatures.
Read more: www.texastribune.org/2016/04/07/sanctuary-city-fears-could-thwart-municipal-id-pro/
In 2014, the El Paso-based Border Network for Human Rights launched a petition drive asking the city council to consider creating a standardized ID card available to city residents. The card would not reflect a person's legal status in the country but could be used as proof of residency by undocumented immigrants waiting to apply for President Obama’s executive action on immigration, which is stalled in the courts.
The ID could also be used to open bank accounts, protect day laborers and other workers paid day-to-day from predatory check-cashing agencies that charge high fees and be used to access city services like libraries and emergency care, proponents argue.
Oakland and San Francisco issue similar cards, and the petition to launch them in El Paso garnered more than 10,000 signatures.
Read more: www.texastribune.org/2016/04/07/sanctuary-city-fears-could-thwart-municipal-id-pro/