Phoenix ID cards urged for migrants

The only Supreme Court case on that is Hiibel v Nevada and that case only requires you to verbally tell your name to a cop when the cop has 1) "reasonable suspicion" to detain you and 2) your state has a law requiring you to tell the cops your name. Arizona does have such a law.

Second the twits in the Arizona legislator have caused this problem by passing a law saying that Mexican 'matricula consular' IDs are not valid in Arizona. If the twits in Arizona's legislator didn't pass that silly law Phoenix wouldn't be thinking about passing this law.

Source

Phoenix ID cards urged for migrants

City councilman floats idea

by Amy B Wang - Oct. 10, 2012 10:17 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Phoenix City Council member has proposed creating city-issued identification cards for undocumented immigrants in order for them to satisfy identification requirements in light of Arizona's controversial immigrant-ID provision in Senate Bill 1070.

On Oct. 2, District 7 Councilman Michael Nowakowski sent a letter to City Attorney Gary Verburg asking his staff to "explore the possibility of creating a city-issued identification card for immigrants that have a Mexican 'matricula consular' card or an equivalent of a foreign identification, but not a valid form of state identification."

In the letter, Nowakowski suggested that the city faces challenges as Phoenix police begin enforcing SB 1070 -- particularly the provision that requires an officer to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion that person is in the country illegally.

Nowakowski's district encompasses much of southwest Phoenix and has a significant Latino population. The councilman is also chairman of the Public Safety Subcommittee.

He fears that, without proper IDs, undocumented immigrants may not report crimes for fear of revealing their residential status. He also said he has heard stories of residents who allege that they are being racially profiled by police.

"During our last subcommittee meeting, we had eight individuals come testify about how they feel they're being discriminated against," Nowakowski said.

The proposed ID cards would also increase safety for police officers, he said. "They don't know who they're pulling over," Nowakowski said.

The Mexican matricula consular card, a photo ID issued by the Mexican government, is not recognized by the Phoenix Police Department because it does not contain information such as height, weight, hair color and eye color, Nowakowski said. [Well not really, the state of Arizona passed a law saying they can't recognize the Mexican matricula consular cards]

A Phoenix spokeswoman said the City Attorney's Office had received Nowakowski's letter and is reviewing it.

Mayor Greg Stanton declined to comment, saying he still needed to be briefed about the issue.

A call placed to Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia was not immediately returned, although he told The Arizona Republic in a recent interview that Phoenix officers are prepared to enforce SB 1070 "with dignity and respect."

"As a matter of policy, we don't comment on pending legislation," said Amber Cargile, Arizona spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

District 6 Councilman Sal DiCiccio said that he would welcome debating the issue at a council meeting but that he would not be in favor of the ID cards.

"I would just be very cautious of the city of Phoenix getting involved in the passport business," DiCiccio said. "That's for the federal government."

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said his initial reaction was to oppose any city-issued ID cards because they might lead to voter fraud.

"Here's the problem that I see. ... I see it as a way to get illegals to vote," Horne said. "The only protection we have against illegal voting is the ID at the polls."

A few U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Trenton, N.J., have begun issuing identification cards for undocumented immigrants.

Recently, Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcón proposed allowing undocumented immigrants to use city library cards as official identification and debit cards.

"I think the cities are struggling with the fact that the federal government has not come down with clear immigration-reform policies, and we have to move forward given the realities of our residents," Alarcón said.