Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed does not plan to follow his New York City counterpart’s lead and propose making municipal ID cards available to residents regardless of their legal status.
“We are interested in finding ways to make the city of Atlanta a more welcoming city. But right now this particular initiative is not on our agenda,” Carlos Campos, a spokesman for Reed, said in an email.
This month – in his first state of the city address – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said municipal ID cards would help immigrants without legal status open up bank accounts, enter into apartment leases and check out library books. He campaigned for mayor on the same issue, saying the ID cards would also help build bridges between the city’s immigrant communities and police.
“To all of my fellow New Yorkers who are undocumented, I say: New York City is your home, too, and we will not force any of our residents to live their lives in the shadows,” said de Blasio, who must get approval from the City Council for his proposal.
Ten other cities and counties issue ID cards, including Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, according to the New York-based Center for Popular Democracy.
Last year, Reed came out in support of President Barack Obama’s plan for overhauling the nation’s immigration laws, including a proposal to streamline the legal immigration system. In 2011, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a measure aimed at blocking immigrants without legal status from obtaining public benefits in the state. Fearing a financial blow to the city’s multi-billion-dollar tourism and convention business, Atlanta’s City Council urged Deal against signing the measure, also called House Bill 87.
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