Passed by Congress in 2005 without any hearings, Real ID turns our driver licenses into national identification cards. If Oregon complies, Real ID will quickly turn into a Real Nightmare for us all!
Why does Real ID affect you? To get a Real ID driver license you first must obtain your certified birth certificate. Do you know where it is? Well, if you don’t know where you were born (adopted or foster child) you may not know where to get a certified birth certificate. What if you were born in another state? You’ll have to track down the right place and hope that they can send it to you. How much will that be and how long will it take? No idea. What if you were born in New Orleans or another location where natural disaster destroyed the documents? Out of luck, since there are no exceptions under Real ID. (Elderly, low-income, those with disabilities or mental health issues … good luck!)
Okay, after spending hours on the phone tracking down your birth certificate at one of the 6,000 jurisdictions in this country that issues them, finding the money you hadn’t budgeted to pay for it and waiting months for delivery (requiring a few more phone calls), you finally get a copy of your certified birth certificate. Great, off you go to DMV. But wait, your name is different on your birth certificate than on your utility bill and your other documents. And to top it off, the Social Security database has entered your name or birth date wrong. Name change? Marriage? Divorce? DMV will demand all of the original documents establishing any name changes and other corrections needed. And if you have to go to the Social Security Administration because they entered your name or birth date wrong, you’ll need that picture ID you do not yet have to get into the building. Assuming you do get in, welcome to what will likely be a Kafkaesque experience.
So you finally have everything in order and return to DMV again. After waiting for hours in a DMV line (will your employer give you time off again…maybe you can call in sick?), you turn over your documents to the DMV employee. DMV must verify the “issuance, validity and completeness” of every document. What does that mean? That means DMV needs to determine that these documents are original and accurate. If you use your PGE bill for proof of residence, they need to call PGE to verify. But PGE isn’t required to respond to the tens of thousands of calls it will receive. Any exception? Not really. So maybe you’ll need to come back after DMV verifies everything.
The day arrives that you can submit a complete and verified application to DMV. Hopefully you won’t get busted by the cops on the way to DMV because you do not have a current license any more. Wait, the DMV employee is telling you that all your documents: birth certificate, Social Security card, marriage certificate, and everything you turn over will be scanned and stored in a 50 state shared database. Say what?! After years of avoiding identity theft you’ve just provided identity thieves with a gold mine of data on you that will be available to DMV employees across the country.
If Oregon complies with Real ID and you cannot get the necessary documents, you won’t be able to get a driver license or identification card in Oregon. What can you do about it? What can we do about it? We need to rise up and tell our Governor, our Legislature and our Congress to wake up – otherwise we’ll all be living this Real Nightmare!
Real ID?....Real Nightmare!
What you can do to help
The ultimate goal is the repeal of Real ID by Congress in 2009 and passage of legislation refusing to comply with Real ID by the Oregon legislature in 2009. In 2008 we need to educate Oregonians about how Real ID will make their lives a Real Nightmare. We need to be sure our federal office holders in 2008 will work to oppose and overturn Real ID. We need state office holders who will sponsor legislation to prohibit enactment of Real ID licenses in Oregon, similar to HB 2827 (2007 as introduced).
Right now most people have not heard of Real ID. That must change. We want to make Real ID such a priority issue that everyone running for office in Oregon will not only understand why Real ID is a Real Nightmare but will be dedicated to doing their part to stop Real ID.
The first action we would take with activist volunteers and coalition partners is to hold a round-table by spring 2008 to strategize on how we educate Oregonians. Based on that strategy, we will use volunteer time and energy, ACLU resources and any financial resources generated from the Battle Royale (to ACLU Foundation of Oregon, our 501(c)(3)) to implement our 2008 strategy.
We would use a cadre of state-wide volunteers to get the word out about Real ID and related civil liberties issues – individuals we train as “experts” to table at markets, fairs, and political events around the state; host house parties; organize and attend candidate debates; get on a bus to canvas rural Oregon; write letters to the editors; plan media strategy; and call or visit elected officials.
In 2008, we need activist and coalition partner meetings with all 7 Oregon Congressional office holders to make sure they return to Washington, DC in 2009 with a commitment to repealing Real ID.
By the end of 2008, we want bi-partisan legislation prohibiting enactment of Real ID ready for introduction at the 2009 Oregon legislature. To get there, we will need to elect and educate 90 Oregon state legislators and have as many of them as possible co-sponsor our legislation. And we will need to put pressure on our Governor, who continues to promote Real ID. With a cadre of civil liberties activists, we will organize a first-ever civil liberties lobbying day at the Oregon legislature where we will fill the hallways and offices of every state legislator. They won’t be able to ignore this nightmare any longer.
About the Presenter
Andrea Meyer is the Legislative Director/Counsel with the ACLU of Oregon. The ACLU is a non-partisan organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. We believe that the freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy are fundamental to a free people. We advance civil liberties and civil rights by activities that include litigation, education and lobbying.