The Sun News

New Mexico Legislature Opposes Plan for National ID Card

January 2007

The Joint Memorial is Sponsored by Senator Michael Sanchez and Representative Ken Martinez

Editor’s Note: The happiest moment of New Mexico’s political life this year came when we found out that both houses of our State Congress will be sponsoring a joint memorial “opposing the creation of a national identification card, and the implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005.” A fascist-communist style internal passport law, the Real ID Act of 2005 calls for implementation by 2008, with all costs to be borne by the states. This confrontation, which is happening nationwide between the Federal Government and the States, represents the most important State’s Rights issue since the Civil War. In this case, the State’s Rights case is excellent, since the Real ID act is both unconstitutional and totally unamerican.

Read the text of the Joint Memorial sponsored by the Majority Leaders of both houses, and see if it doesn’t warm your heart too:

WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico recognizes the constitution of the United States as our charter of liberty and the bill of rights as affirming the fundamental and inalienable rights of Americans, including freedom of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico has a diverse population whose contributions are vital to the state’s economy, culture and civic character; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is proud of its tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of all of its residents, affirming the fundamental rights of all people and providing more expansive protections than are granted by the United States constitution; and
WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico denounces terrorism in all its forms and condemns all acts of terrorism by any entity, wherever the acts occur; and
WHEREAS, any new security measures to protect from terrorist attacks should be carefully designed to enhance public safety without infringing on the civil liberties and rights of citizens; and
WHEREAS, the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109- 13, creates a national identification card by mandating federal standards for state driver’s licenses and identification cards and requiring states to share their motor vehicle databases; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act mandates the documents that states must require to issue driver’s licenses and requires states to place uniform information on every driver’s license in a standard, machine-readable format; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act prohibits federal agencies and federally regulated commercial aircraft from accepting a driver’s license or identification card issued by a state that has not fully complied with the act; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act places a costly unfunded mandate on states, with initial estimates for New Mexico of more than thirty-seven million dollars ($37,000,000) over five years and national estimates of more than eleven billion dollars ($11,000,000,000) over the next five years; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act requires the creation of a massive public sector database containing information on every American that is accessible to motor vehicle employees and law enforcement officers nationwide and that can be used to gather and manage information on citizens, and this is not the business or responsibility of government; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act enables the creation of additional massive private sector databases, combining both transactional information and driver’s license information gained from scanning the machine-readable information contained on every driver’s license; and
WHEREAS, these public and private databases are likely to contain numerous errors and false information, creating significant hardship for Americans attempting to verify their identities in order to fly, open a bank account or perform any of the numerous functions required to live in the United States today; and
WHEREAS, the federal trade commission estimates that ten million Americans are victims of identity theft annually, and, because identity thieves are increasingly targeting motor vehicle departments, the REAL ID Act will enable the crime of identity theft by making the personal information of all Americans, including date of birth and signature, accessible from tens of thousands of locations; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act requires a driver’s license to contain a person’s actual home address and makes no exception for individuals in potential danger, such as undercover law enforcement or victims of stalking or criminal harassment; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act contains onerous record verification and retention provisions that place unreasonable burdens on the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department and on third parties required to verify records; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act will place enormous burdens on consumers seeking new driver’s licenses such as longer lines, higher costs, increased document requests and a waiting period; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act will place state motor vehicle staff on the front lines of immigration enforcement by forcing state employees to determine federal citizenship and immigration status, excessively burdening both foreign-born applicants and motor vehicle staff; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act passed without sufficient deliberation by congress and did not receive a hearing by any congressional committee or a vote solely on its own merits, despite opposition from more than six hundred organizations; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act eliminated a process of negotiated rulemaking initiated under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which had convened federal, state and local policymakers, privacy advocates and industry experts to solve the problem of misuse of identity documents; and
WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act provides little security benefit and leaves identification systems open to insider fraud, counterfeit documentation and database failures;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it support the government of the United States in its campaign against terrorism, while affirming the commitment of the United States that the campaign not be waged at the expense of the essential civil rights and liberties of the citizens of this country; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the policy of the state of New Mexico to oppose any portion of the REAL ID Act that violates the rights and liberties guaranteed under the constitutions of New Mexico or the United States, including the bill of rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislature enact no legislation nor authorize an appropriation to further the passage of the REAL ID Act in New Mexico, unless such appropriation is used exclusively for the purpose of undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the costs of implementing the REAL ID Act or to mount a constitutional challenge to the act by the state attorney general; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislature urge the New Mexico congressional delegation to support measures to repeal the REAL ID Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to President George W. Bush, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Pete Domenici, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Representative Tom Udall, Representative Heather Wilson and Representative Steve Pearce.

Leland Lehrman can be reached at leland.lehrman@gmail.com or 982-3609