Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) introduced legislation, the Real ID Act, containing terrorist travel provisions that were dropped from legislation enacted last month that addresses the work of the 9/11 Commission. 

The measure will require all states to comply with strong security standards when issuing driver's licenses, which include tough identification standards and the expiration of driver’s licenses when the alien's visa expires.  In addition it will tighten the asylum system, give judges more flexibility in deciding the credibility of witnesses in asylum cases, close the 3 mile gap in the fortified U.S./Mexico border fence in the San Diego area and ensure that terrorism is grounds for deportation from the country. 

The news for non-immigrants is especially bad. Many people have statuses that are only valid for a few months at a time so frequent renewals of licenses will be needed. Furthermore, motor vehicle agency officials often are not sophisticated about immigration law and experience in states with similar provisions has demonstrated that many people have not been granted driver’s licenses even though they held valid non-immigrant status.  

The legislation also includes closing the 3-Mile Hole in the fortified U.S./Mexico Border Fence Near San Diego, and would keep terrorists out of the U.S. by ensuring all terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility are grounds for deportation. 

A fight is expected in Congress over this legislation because the legislation will be opposed by Senate Democrats, open borders groups, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association released a statement last week proposing that the Real ID Act would be detrimental to the welfare of the country in that it will (1) increase the number of uninsured, unlicensed drivers; (2) limit the critical law enforcement utility of Department of Motor Vehicle databases; (3) make it difficuly for people fleeing persecution to obtain refuge in the United States; (4) undermine free speech and association; (5) and waste valuable resources, both economic and environmental, on false border security solutions.