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Old 08-22-2003, 07:45 AM
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Default California, illegal immigrants, IRS, driver's licenses, and the recall election !!!

License bill faces challenge from IRS


The Sacramento Bee

August 22, 2003

It's risky to use taxpayer ID numbers for noncitizen drivers, agency says.


By Ed Fletcher


Complicating the push to give illegal immigrants access to California driver's licenses, U.S. officials say a legislative plan to use federal taxpayer identification numbers to screen noncitizen drivers would pose a "potential security risk."

An Aug. 9 letter from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to the state Department of Motor Vehicles raises doubts about a provision of the bill, saying individual taxpayer identification numbers are "not valid for identification outside the tax system."

"If your state is considering legislation to accept (individual taxpayer identification numbers) as proof of identity for driver's licenses, please alert your legislators to potential security risks," says the letter, which was sent to motor vehicle departments in all 50 states.

IRS spokesman Bill Steiner cautioned that the taxpayer ID number isn't sufficient for identification purposes. He said the agency accepts proof of identity on "face value."

"We don't verify the documentation. The IRS is in the business of administering the tax law," Steiner said. "If you are earning money in the U.S., we expect you to pay taxes on it."

SB 60, which seeks to allow illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses, would let applicants submit a federally issued taxpayer ID number and a birth certificate in place of a Social Security number. Additionally, applicants without a birth certificate could prove their identity by using two documents approved by the DMV.

A recent amendment added a high-tech fingerprint scan as an additional tool to identify applicants. The new system is expected to cost $50 million to $65 million and could double the cost of getting a license from $12 to $24.

The bill's author, state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said Thursday that he saw no risk in using federal taxpayer ID numbers -- in combination with other approved documents and the proposed fingerprinting system -- to ensure the identity of driver's license applicants.

"It is very interesting that they are concerned with a number from the federal government," he said. "If somebody has a quarrel with it, they should talk to the Bush administration."

The bill faced difficulty on another front Thursday, as Cedillo sought to win approval in the state Assembly. Republicans voiced concerns about security, voter fraud and the appropriateness of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and Democrats questioned whether the new scanning procedures would prevent identity theft.

Cedillo ultimately opted not to press for a vote, saying he hoped to answer his colleagues' questions and bring the long-debated and twice-vetoed measure back on Monday.

Cedillo has said SB 60 is needed to allow illegal immigrants to drive to work, school and around town legally and safely. Supporters say the legislation would help businesses that employ undocumented workers and would improve the safety of the general public.

But Republicans on Thursday accused Democrats of rushing approval of the legislation in an effort to help Gov. Gray Davis stave off the recall attempt with Latino votes.

"It is the most blatant example so far of how the recall is tainting the legislative process," said Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox.

In response to the IRS letter, DMV spokesman Bill Branch said neither federal tax ID numbers nor Social Security numbers would be used for DMV identification purposes under the bill.

Social Security numbers are currently used by the DMV to help collect court fines and child support payments, Branch said. Additionally, since November 2000, the department has used the numbers to match applicants with their Social Security records as a way to prevent identity theft, he said.

Branch noted that SB 60 also leans on new technology to help identify applicants.

"The Cedillo bill depends largely on biometrics to establish identification," Branch said.

But some Senate Democrats, who met in a closed-door session Thursday, had concerns about whether the high-tech biometric fingerprint scan would prevent identity theft.

"If you don't list a Social Security number because you don't have one, there wouldn't be a mechanism to ensure you don't already have a license," said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina Del Rey.

According to the bill, the new fingerprint scan would compare new prints to prints already in the DMV system "to ensure that each individual is issued only one driver's license or identification card."

But Bowen noted that until all current drivers submitted a new fingerprint, the system could not say a new applicant didn't already have a license.

Meanwhile, some Republicans asked whether the bill really would make people safer, as Cedillo asserts.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, questioned whether illegal immigrants should be driving at all.
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