Dear Friend,

We're just a year away from being federally required to stamp a scarlet letter on undocumented immigrants.

October 20, 2020, is the date that the Department of Homeland Security is requiring driver's licenses to be REAL ID compliant in order to fly or enter secure federal buildings, and states are in charge of following REAL ID requirements for their local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs).(1)

Immigrants and other people that don't have the exhaustive paperwork required for a REAL ID will be given an alternate driver's license -- a bright signal to anyone who sees it that they might not be documented.

Requiring REAL ID to fly and withholding this identification from residents of California is a violation of their rights. Will you sign our petition calling on Democratic presidential candidates to reject REAL ID?

In 2015, California began granting driver's licenses to DACA recipients and immigrants with documentation.(2)

This was essential to our community, allowing people to drive legally and obtain services. 

But obtaining a REAL ID is different -- applicants have to show up to the DMV in person with their birth certificate or passport, a social security card or official document showing a social security number, and two documents of residency in California, including a mortgage bill or vehicle registration.(3)

DACA recipients can only get temporary REAL IDs, and people without documentation cannot get a REAL ID at all. People who can't get ahold of their birth certificates or who don't own a home or a car will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get a REAL ID. People whose names are different than what is on their marriage licenses or other documentation will also have a hard time obtaining a REAL ID. Instead, they will receive licenses that will say “Federal Limits Apply" -- or, in some states, they won't be able to get licenses at all.

This isn't just about the ability to board an airplane, although for some in our communities, that will be reality under Real ID, since air travel is regulated at the federal level. This is about making people carry a government ID that marks them as undocumented or impoverished.

This is about the landlord who decides he won't rent to applicants without a REAL ID, or an employer who makes the same policy. This is about ICE having the ability to pull databases of people who didn't qualify for a REAL ID from DMVs.

This is a terrifying mark on immigrants without documentation, and we can't allow that to mar our communities.

New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Oregon haven’t begun issuing REAL ID yet. What's more, 99 million people currently don’t have REAL ID compliant driver's licenses, which gives us real leverage to stop the requirement.(4) We need the candidates running against Trump to pledge to stop REAL ID.

Will you sign our petition calling on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to reject REAL ID?

Yours in the fight for justice,

Mary, along with Analeeza, Annie, Brian, Caitlin, Deepthi, Eddie, Gabby, Lindsay, Molly, Phillip, Raquel, and Scottie (the Courage Campaign team)

Footnotes:
1. https://realid.dmv.ca.gov/what-is-real-id-faq/#what-is-faq-heading
2. https://nypost.com/2018/04/05/california-gave-drivers-licenses-to-1-million-illegal-immigrants/
3. https://realid.dmv.ca.gov/what-is-real-id-faq/#what-is-faq-heading
4. http://www.ncsl.org/documents/standcomm/sctran/REALIDComplianceReport.pdf

Courage Campaign fights for a more progressive California and country. We are an online community powered by more than 1.4 million members.