Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (Bay Ridge, Staten Island) and Assemblyman Ron Castorina (R,C,I-Staten Island) today called on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City to retain and preserve documents acquired through the application process for IDNYC cards.
De Blasio launched the IDNYC program in January 2015, in part to help undocumented immigrants in need of a government-verified proof of identification to do things like open a bank account and get social services.
However, the lawmakers noted that as part of the authorizing statute of the program, there is a clause that was inserted that allows for destroying the records of those that signed up – a clause that was inserted, according to one of the bill’s authors, “In case a Tea Party Republican comes into office and says, ‘we want all the data from all the municipal ID programs in the country.”
New York City is one of a number of “Sanctuary Cities” around the country that follows certain procedures that shelters illegal immigrants. After Donald Trump was elected earlier this month, de Blasio vowed to do everything in his power to protect the City’s many illegal immigrants, including destroying records of those that signed up for IDNYC.
“The purging of data acquired through the IDNYC program would create a new risk to the safety of all New York City residents in that, should someone use the program to create a fake identity for malicious purposes, we would be left without the means to learn how he or she created it,” said Malliotakis, a daughter of legal Cuban and Greek immigrants.
“The records provided to the city in pursuit of the identification cards carry their own inherent value, and if our Mayor is serious about preserving public safety he’ll ensure that they aren’t destroyed,” she added.
A month after the program started, Malliotakis wrote de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and the bill’s authors, Councilmember Daniel Dromm and Councilmember Carlos Menchaca (Sunset Park, Red Hook), expressing her concern with the city program and their proposal to destroy the documents.
The letter highlighted the risk that an individual illegally residing in the United States can obtain a government-issued ID card with little or no documentation after “residing” in New York City for as little as 14 days. Malliotakis also noted that the recent reports of individuals using fake passports and the potential for terrorists posing as refugees with stolen or fraudulent documents should be of grave concern to city officials and reason enough to pause the program.
De Blasio spokesperson Rosemary Boeglin responded that the safety of New Yorkers is City Hall’s top priority, and that includes the nearly 40 percent of city residents who are foreign born.
“We rely on law enforcement professionals from the NYPD to set the bar for security, and IDNYC consistently meets this high standard. Claims that IDNYC is being used by those intending serious harm is reckless fear-mongering – the IDNYC application process is similar to DMVs across the country, highly trained staff use state of the art technology to identify instances of fraud, and IDNYC cannot be used to obtain a driver’s license, board a plane, or cross a border,” said Boeglin.
IDNYC photo identification cards are available for all New Yorkers aged 14 and older. To establish eligibility for IDNYC New York City residents must produce documents that show proof of who they are and that they live in the City.
Boeglin said, in fact, IDNYC has rejected thousands of applications that have failed to produce proper documents. All IDNYC enrollment center staff are trained in document verification and fraud prevention. IDNYC enrollment staff use cutting edge technology and software to verify applicant identity, such as state of the art duplicate image technology.
“Over 900,000 New Yorkers have IDNYC, and we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our data. The City will make a decision regarding record retention in the near future,” she said.
According to the provision in the law, that decision must be made before the end of the year or a full 20 days before Trump takes office.
