ID cards: who's on first?

Flip-flop on National ID Cards

It wasn't that long ago when it was the political Right that jerked its collective knee reflexively, whenever the subject came up ("Real Americans don't carry ID cards!"). In case you haven’t noticed, the flip-flop on National ID cards is complete. It was carried out with the same subtlety as the classic 2004 campaign “Kerry cherry” (“I actually voted for . . .” etc.).

What's going on? According to the Left, it boils down to (surprise, surprise) suppression of voter rights. Today their argument goes like this: Issuance of ID cards is a nefarious right-wing scheme that would return the country to the days when black voters were banned from voting, by imposing "just another form" of long-since outlawed reading tests and poll taxes.

That was the presentation one of the many ACLU fellow-travelers made yesterday (9/28/05) during his 30-minute presentation on C-Span One’s Washington Journal.

The ACLU and its allies now reason that to require a photo ID of all American citizens is first and foremost a right-wing racist plot designed to reduce voting by Afro-Americans, the poor and the underprivileged. Continuing this foray into silliness, the argument goes that proposed legislation pending in Congress would deny eligible citizens an ID card because of overly strict requirements to prove citizenship. In addition, they say that thousands—maybe millions—of senior citizens, the hospitalized, and the ill would also be disenfranchised. How so? Because these good folks, the C-SPAN guest explained, wouldn’t be physically able to present themselves at ID-card issuing authorities because of their infirmity. This particular Left-wing advocate also threw in what I’m sure was his own ad hoc epiphany--inspired during a heated exchange with a caller who questioned his thin logic—namely, that the pending congressional legislation would accept nothing short of an original birth certificate as adequate evidence of citizenship.

So what’s the real beef? As plainly as we folks who live in the desert near the border with Mexico and who have to daily deal with the “invasion” can put it: Illegal immigration is an extraordinary and growing drain on our social and education resources—aggravated by voter fraud.

Ever since Chris Simcox, America’s self-appointed immigration “sheriff”caught the attention of the American people last April with his Minuteman Project, movement toward border control and immigration reform is finally beginning to surface, even if at a tortoise-like pace. This legislation recognizes that the first critical component in devising realistic immigration reform is our ability to know who are and who are not legal residents. Sincere parties to the reform movement agree to this logic, and most agree that this would be most efficiently accomplished by issuing National ID cards.

However, what has been happening in recent months is that taxpayers in the border states (Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas) have been growing increasingly impatient in light of state budgets that are spiraling out of control due to the costs of providing free social, educational, and medical welfare to illegal immigrants.

Voter pressure for reform coincided conveniently with the National ID card controversy last November when Proposition 200 was put to the citizens for a decision. We responded decisively with a loud collective “no”! "No" to automatically doling out our taxes to anyone who asks, without being able to establish their bona fides. Proposition 200 is straightforward and simple: It requires everyone, citizen or not, who seeks social welfare or who wishes to vote, to present adequate verification of their resident status with an "acceptable form of evidence." Even among us rank and file “Joe Voters” in Arizona, Proposition 200 was a very welcome and easy-to-understand no-brainer.

Unfortunately, after the citizens spoke the Left--led by our Democrat Governor Napolitano-- has been busily doing everything possible to block implementation of the Proposition 200, citing their worn-out mantra that citizens would be denied their rights by having to show identification--and besides, identification cards are an unconstitutional imposition. In January when our will was supposed to be implemented, the Governor directed her Attorney General to seek a temporary injunction. After her blocking action expired a month later, the Governor has continued to drag her feet--for example, she refuses to define for state employees what form(s) of identification they should ask for and accept as "appropriate" forms of eligibility. Should hospital emergency rooms deny patients services if they aren't legal residents and/or citizens? Or should public schools stop accepting the children of "undocumented" immigrants? For that matter, should the children who have been enrolled for several years be disenrolled if their parents can't present "appropriate" forms of eligibility? Admittedly, these are sticky questions. So implementation of Proposition 200 remains in limbo--many Arizonans say their will is being deliberately thwarted.

But the plot thickens! As though trying to appease our protests, the Arizona Governor, along with Bill Richardson, Democrat Governor of our neighbor New Mexico, this summer declared a “state of emergency.” She still hasn't explained to us and we are not sure what that move was supposed to accomplish (for example, the National Guard hasn't been called to man the border--in fact, at the border, it's business as usual), but Proposition 200 still goes unimplemented, by virtue of benign neglect. What we suspect was tactic designed to the Arizona masses, Governor Napolitano made the news for a couple days by sending U.S. Attorney General Gonzales in Washington a bill for a whopping sum she calculated Arizonans have paid to maintain illegal immigrants. So far, General Gonzalez has not responded with the hopeful words, "The check's in the mail" and in the meantime the “invasion” continues--we Arizonans continue to pay for the "invaders."

This may be the crux of the problem: Fully understanding the scope of the illegal immigration problem requires realizing that Arizona has long been especially vulnerable to voter fraud at the polls. Arizona requires absolutely no form of identification of voters at any level of registration—nothing, nada, nichevo, nichts! If you’re an illegal immigrant and have been “urged” to vote, you don’t even have to register in advance. You simply walk up to any voting station and request a ballot (which are, of course, conveniently printed in Spanish, if that should make any difference to a coached, illegal voter). The volunteer workers are not allowed to question or impede your intention to vote, nor ask for verification of your eligibility. In fact, one of the helpful attending citizen-volunteers will even assist you, in case you’re not familiar with voting booths and other unfamiliar devices. The only snag you might run into is having showed up at a voting station not corresponding to the local address you choose to use upon your arrival. But not to worry! Friendly volunteers will direct you to the proper location to receive your vote and, if you don't know where it is, they'll probably take you there. Arizonans don't want to be thought of as not being friendly to "voters.”

The galvanizing theme of the ACLU and their allies in their campaign against National ID cards now becomes crystal clear when you hear their key piece of logic (made repeatedly on C-SPAN yesterday): Issuing National ID cards would "prevent widest possible voter participation.” That’s about as close a confession to the truth of the matter, when you consider how requiring an ID card would check the corrupt interests that have too long usurped the rights of citizens who respect the privilege of a special American sanctuary--the voting booth.

Now you know! From an "insider-taxpayer" in Arizona.