Cities for All

Please join us next Saturday, February 16th for the“Cities for All” Conference to discuss the implementation of municipal ID/ Resident cards available to all regardless of immigration status. Many residents in our communities- such as childrenand youth, the elderly, homeless, immigrants,students, transgender individuals--lack official government-issued identification. Without an accepted form of ID, these residents are not able to participate in local commerce and other forms of civic engagement such as opening a bank account or obtaininga library card. Using the experiences of New Haven,Connecticut and San Francisco, we will discuss how local governments can and should implement these cards. If implemented properly these ID cards can help integrate some of our marginalized communities,help materialize the said “sanctuary” status of someof our cities and represent an alternative to theFederal Real ID legislation. As we learned with theSan Francisco ID there are several concerns that surface involving privacy, inclusiveness and a fear that such a card may become a marker for undocumented status. We strongly believe that all these issues can be addressed and that the benefits greatly outweigh any risks. So join organizations, advocatesand city officials from Southern California, Central Valley and the Bay Area to discuss this exciting project.