Update | Bowser and the Department of Human Services Block IDs for Migrants Emergency Bill by Claiming Fiscal Impact
Update: Read Bowser’s Budget Tricks Scuttled An Effort to Help Migrants Break Free of a ‘Kafkaesque System’ by Alex Koma in the Washington City Paper.
On Tuesday, July 11th, the DC Council was to vote on the Limited Purpose Credential Clarification Emergency Amendment Act, introduced by Councilmember Allen. This bill would have allowed migrants who were bused to the District to obtain DC IDs and driver’s licenses. Currently, recently arrived asylum-seekers (recent migrants) are unable to obtain DC identification cards, as many have had their documents (i.e., passport, birth certificate) confiscated by Customs and Border Protection and/or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. So, even though DC has Limited Purpose Credentials (LPCs) available to residents who do not have social security numbers, recent migrants are essentially unable to obtain them. Without ID, recent migrants face many barriers to self-sufficiency, including the inability to open bank accounts, sign leases, obtain birth certificates, get married, access community resources, complete applications for immigration relief and more! Councilmember Allen’s bill would have taken an important first step towards fixing this issue, however Mayor Bowser and the Department of Human Services (DHS) chose to block the legislation.
Emergency legislation in DC cannot have a fiscal impact. So, when Mayor Bowser and her agencies do not want a bill to pass they claim exorbitant fiscal impacts. For the LPC bill, DHS, the parent agency of the Office of Migrant Services (OMS), claimed they need close to $140k to hire a new full time employee to implement the bill’s provisions — essentially generate a form and send some letters. The primary agency impacted by the bill, the Department of Motor Vehicles, was willing to absorb the fiscal impact on their agency and implement the bill. Unfortunately, DHS/OMS chose to block the bill and it had to be withdrawn, leaving countless DC residents with no hope of obtaining identification again.