The D.C. Council is considering a bill that would allow District residents to get a driver’s license without a Social Security number, potentially opening the doors for thousands of illegal immigrants to get the government-issued IDs. The bill introduced Tuesday by at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson and Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham permits the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles to ask for a Social Security number, but does not allow the DMV to deny a resident a license if they don’t want to submit their Social Security digits. The language scoots around federal regulations implemented after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that were designed to better regulate who can get a driver’s license. Eighteen of the 19 hijackers that day had legitimate driver’s licenses or state identification cards, though at least one was in the country illegally. There are about 25,000 illegal immigrants in the District, the Center for Immigration Studies estimates.
| To get a license now |
| Documents currently needed for a D.C. driver’s license: |
| > Proof of name/birth (includes: birth certificate, U.S. or foreign passport, etc.) |
| > Proof of D.C. residency (utility bill, lease, property tax bill, etc.) |
| > Proof of Social Security number |
| Source: www.dmv.dc.gov |
“For D.C. to do that, having been at the core of the 9/11 attacks and when secure driver’s licenses could have prevented [some of] them, is completely irresponsible,” said Janice Kephard, the national security policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for immigration reduction. “This would allow D.C. to become a doormat for illegal alien smugglers, criminals and anyone else who would gain by stealing someone’s identification.”
But Mendelson said he doesn’t see the need for using Social Security numbers.
“There’s no rational reason for saying that in order to drive a car you have to have a Social Security number,” he said. “I’m more interested in whether you’re texting while driving, paying attention and know how to drive.”
Mendelson said he introduced the bill because he has heard from two D.C. residents who are U.S. citizens and “philosophically opposed” to having Social Security numbers. He also said it’s part of his ongoing efforts to end “our over-reliance on the Social Security card for non-Social Security purposes.” In 1998, Mendelson successfully pushed legislation to have Social Security numbers removed from District driver’s licenses.
“Those who look at driver’s licenses as a way of looking at immigration issues are in fact federalizing state authority,” he said.
The District could lose ground in its battle for voting rights by pushing the bill, D.C. police union chief Kris Baumann said.
Even if the bill passes the council and is signed into law by the mayor, it will likely face stiff resistance in the Republican-led House of Representatives, which could block it.
“If the council continues to undermine federal immigration policies,” Baumann said, “the residents of the District are going to lose what little autonomy we currently have.”
