California is preparing to share driver’s license data with a national organization, a move that critics say breaks a decade-long promise to protect unauthorized immigrants.
The state plans to send information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators to comply with the federal REAL ID Act.
For year, California’s AB 60 law allowed undocumented residents to get licenses while promising their data would not be used for immigration enforcement.
However, officials now say they must share this data to ensure California IDs remain valid for boarding airplanes.
Advocates are outraged noting that the shared files will use a “99999” placeholder for those without Social Security numbers making them easy to identify.
Tracy Rosenberg of Oakland Privacy called the decision “a direct betrayal,” adding “It’s unclear how extreme the danger people are being put into by this decision but there’s no doubt we told people with AB 60 licenses this would never happen.”
The DMV is requesting $55 million to facilitate the transfer.
While the state insists it “continues to lead in supporting immigrant families,” Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee described the plan as “a betrayal of California’s commitment to protect and defend all its residents.”
