On March 5, 2008, Centro Legal de la Raza hosted a meeting of community groups to discuss establishing an Oakland City Identification Card — following similar innovations in New Haven, CT, and San Francisco, CA, and according with the expansion of Oakland’s sanctuary ordinance last year.
The East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association’s IRC joined Centro Legal de la Raza and other community, labor and faith organizations to discuss how to extend Oakland’s sanctuary ordinance to provide a municipal ID card for people in our community who lack access to ID and the public and business services that an ID facilitates.
We see the establishment of a city ID card as a means to provide an official government-issued identification to various members of the community such as immigrants, youth, the elderly, homeless, and transgender individuals who often do not have access to services and resources due to lack of acceptable identification.
The potential benefits to Oakland residents include:
- Full participation of all residents in civic affairs.
- Access of all residents to local resources such as libraries and museums.
- Ability of all residents to participate in local commerce such as opening a bank account, establishing credit, accessing loans, etc.
- Improvement in public safety by easing barriers to crime reporting and witness cooperation.
- Security for children, youth, and the elderly, who may not have other identification such as a valid driver’s license.
- Discounts from City institutions such as the zoo, museums, etc., from local small businesses, and eventually from public transit.
- The ability to be used as a debit card to carry a potential new local Oakland currency, the “ACORN“.
As of 5/29/08, the Oakland City Identification Card Coalition (OCICC) consists of:
- Black Alliance for Just Immigration
- Centro Legal de la Raza
- EBLRLA - Immigrant Rights Committee
- Green Party of Alameda County
- Oakland CAN
We are looking for other groups to help us make an Oakland City ID Card a reality. There is strength in numbers! To join us, please email oaklandcityidcard@gmail.com.
