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.
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