New Haven sees promise in ID cards
On July 24, 2007, New Haven, Conn., launched a Municipal Identification Program to distribute I.D. cards to all residents. The cards can be used to access city services, such as libraries, parks, public beaches and the landfill. They also serve as debit cards that can be used for parking meter fees and at area businesses. American City & County talked with New Haven Mayor John DeStefano about the challenges of implementing the program. Hear the entire interview, listen to the podcast.
Q: What issues does the Municipal Identification Program address?
A: The genesis of the program was that undocumented residents were victims of street crime and home invasions, [and could not] open bank accounts. What evolved, then, was a discussion about their inability [to contact] and concern about contacting police. What ensued with the police chief and I was a discussion about [knowing] who’s in New Haven and for the people in New Haven to have a civic connection to government. The concept of the card was born there, but then was extended to include benefits for all residents of the city.
Q: How successful has the program been so far?
A: We have had [a] greater demand for the card than we had expected. Initial cards tended to be [given to] large numbers of individuals whose birthplace [was] not in the United States. A major part of our outreach now is the undergraduate campus at Yale and, later this year, will be to provide identity cards for New Haven public school students. I think there are a larger number of New Haven residents who, because of the failure of the national government to adopt sound immigration and border security policy, are here undocumented. I think they saw this as a way to provide a mechanism for themselves to negotiate day-to-day life, which is to be able to say who they are. There’s also a reasonably large segment of the New Haven population [that is] properly documented [and] using the cards, either for its debit card feature, for library services, [recreational] services, or, frankly, for a show of support for the undocumented community.
Q: What challenges did you have to overcome to implement the program?
A: Misunderstandings and willful misinformation by those who have issue with immigration policy in the United States. We did not initiate this program as a commentary to the federal government’s failure to adopt immigration reform or border security. There have been folks who have used this to suggest that we’re trying to create paper trails for terrorists, or to extend rights that otherwise wouldn’t exist, or to use the card to violate the law. We were very diligent in our efforts to research our authority to do this. [The card concept] was run by the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut [and] through the U.S. Attorney’s Office before we initiated the program. There’s been some misunderstanding, but its genesis is among those who have issue with the federal government’s immigration policies or lack thereof.
Q: How could other cities benefit from this type of program?
A: American cities and towns each have to figure out what works best for them. There are hundreds of American cities that are grappling with the contradictions of our immigration policy. [Undocumented immigrants] are often anxious about identifying their presence, so you get situations where they don’t report crime that they may witness or be victims of. You see circumstances in these communities where they feel, as we do in New Haven, that in order to be a successful community, you have to engage the community. I think some communities will look at our program and see it has value.
