LR City Proposal Could Provide ID for Undocumented Immigrants Video

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The City of Little Rock released potential plans to provide ID cards for people who don't have any, including possible undocumented immigrants.

The city suggests the cards would be beneficial in safety and emergency situations while providing access to social and economic aspects of daily life.

The program would be aimed at immigrants, homeless residents, formerly incarcerated persons, youth with unstable home environments, persons with disabilities, seniors, and transgender individuals.

Supporters at a "Working Together in the Community" meeting Wednesday (7/13), said the idea can better the lives of those people who are already here and may not have another identification card.

"I know what it's like to live like that," said Miguel Lopez. "If you're a parent and you have to go pick up your kid from daycare, they're going to ask for and identification and if you don't have a driver's license or state ID, that's going to complicate that."

Lopez is a Communication Specialist at the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency. He says he has friends and relatives who are undocumented immigrants in Little Rock.

At Wednesday's meeting the city revealed a draft for the potential Municipal Identification Card Program. Various local services like banking and small businesses were represented at the meeting.

"We're going to work in consensus with the business community to really figure out what the ID is and what the purpose is," explained City Manager Bruce Moore, who shared the program with the group.

Moore says the city understands there will be concerns as it relates to possibly working with people who are here illegally.

"We're prepared to talk about the purpose of it and it's not to deal with immigration status," Moore insisted. "It really is to provide with an ID that says they're a resident of Little Rock."

He says someone being an undocumented is a federal issue and not the city's.

He added, "That's something we're not going to concern ourselves with."

LRPD said this will be a useful tool for them in identifying victims or other aspects of emergency situations.

The draft of the program says each card will contain the individual's name, address, date of birth, eye color, height, picture, and signature. It will also have a unique identification number.

The city insists the Municipal ID is not the equivalent of a state or federal form of identification and does not verify citizenship or immigration status.

Applicants would be required to complete a form and provide certain documents to City staff to prove identity and residency within the city of Little Rock.

The draft claims any relevant applications and documentation provided by residents could be disclosed under Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act.

For Lopez, the card could even help with something closer to his heart: registering as an organ donor.

"Not only are we going to help them live a more normal life we're also going to help them donate life," he said.

There would be a charge for anyone applying for a card and the program would have to be included in the city's budget but specifics have not been laid out.

Moore says the city will get everything in place, hoping to begin issuing cards in early 2017.