It’s official! We’re excited to announce the creation of new municipal ID program that will give all New York City residents access to official identification cards starting in 2015!
After years of advocacy by our members and partners, who helped create a diverse Campaign for Municipal ID’s, NYC will become the largest municipality in the country to offer its own ID program, building on the successes of San Francisco and others.
Why is this important? Right now, hundreds of thousands of young, elderly, immigrant, LGBTQ, and homeless New Yorkers lack government-issued ID. This bars them from accessing the basic programs and services that many of us take for granted — things like opening a bank account, renting an apartment, filing a police report, picking their children up from school, or accessing needed services.
For our community — undocumented immigrants in particular — having government-issued ID will help everyone participate in these fundamental aspects of daily life and will acknowledge our communities’ importance and belonging to NYC.
But this isn’t just about safety and opportunity for immigrants. Getting a city ID card will be made easy so that thousands of youth and homeless New Yorkers won’t need to fear being detained or arrested for not having ID.
And, New Yorkers will get to choose their gender to be listed on their card. Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals will no longer have to fear confusion or being shamed when pulling out an ID card that does not accurately represent them.
Even if you already have a state driver’s license or non-driver ID, getting an NYC ID will provide you with other benefits, like discounts to cultural activities, and much more.
¡Si se puede!
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This is an incredibly exciting opportunity and we applaud the New York City Council, in particular Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and lead sponsors Council Members Daniel Dromm and Carlos Menchaca, and Mayor de Blasio for making this a top priority!
Thank you to our partners in the Municipal IDs Campaign:
Center for Popular Democracy, New York Immigration Coalition, Hispanic Federation, Faith in New York, NYCLU, Picture the Homeless, LGBT Law Project at NYLAG, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, New Economy Project, Arab American Association of New York, Immigrant Defense Project Minkwon Center for Community Action, La Fuente, Anti-Violence Project, Sex Workers Project at Urban Justice Center, Peter Cicchino Youth Project at Urban Justice Center, Street Vendors Project, New Sanctuary Coalition, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, and Project Hospitality.