The Harms of Placing Citizenship Status on Driver’s licenses and Texas Identification Cards
Indicating citizenship status on driver licenses and ID cards will be detrimental to national security and public safety by increasing opportunities and incentives for counterfeit and identity fraud.
· Adding citizenship status to the data expressed on ID cards will increase the utility of counterfeit cards and thereby create incentives for fraud. Maintaining separate citizenship documents provides an additional obstacle that counterfeiters must face.
· Adding citizenship status to driver licenses will deter criminals and terrorists from seeking to obtain them, reducing surveillance opportunities of dangerous individuals.
· Verifying citizenship status places an impossible burden on the states, which does not have access to federal databases regarding immigration.
· Immigration status was not an issue in not preventing the September 11 attacks.
Before Texas implements the Real ID Act, in addition to asking for additional funding, the State Legislature should request that the current system be kept in place. Requiring multiple forms of identity is more secure and efficient.