California lawmakers are resisting a Newsom administration request to spend $55 million on a national driver’s license data-sharing system, citing concerns that information about California motorists — including undocumented immigrants licensed under state law — could be used for immigration enforcement.
The funding, sought by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, was left out of a budget agreement released Thursday night by the Assembly and Senate. The money would allow the DMV to connect with the State-to-State system and its SPEX platform, a nationwide database operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
The system is designed to help states determine whether a driver already holds a license or identification card elsewhere. California officials say participation is necessary to comply with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, which sets standards for identification accepted at airports and other federal facilities.
But immigrant rights advocates and some lawmakers are alarmed by the type of information that would be shared. The system includes the last five digits of a driver’s Social Security number. For drivers without one, it uses a placeholder, such as “99999,” which opponents say could make it easy to identify people who do not have Social Security numbers.
California has allowed residents to obtain standard driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status since 2015 under Assembly Bill 60, a 2014 law. More than 1 million immigrant license holders in California do not have federal authorization to live in the United States, according to prior reporting cited by advocates.
Those advocates fear that once California driver information is entered into the national system, officials in other states could pass along details about suspected undocumented immigrants to federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol.
In response to questions about the Legislature’s budget proposal, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson urged people living in the country without lawful status to leave the United States.
The Senate released its own budget plan Tuesday evening without the DMV funding. Lawmakers face a June 15 deadline to approve a state budget, though negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom can continue through June 30 on budget-related details.
Excluding the $55 million does not permanently block the DMV’s plan. The governor and Legislature could restore the money during negotiations, or lawmakers could approve it later through a follow-up budget bill. But advocates say the delay could prevent the DMV from receiving the funds by July 1, when the department had planned to begin sending data.
Jessie Schmitte, a state policy manager with Alliance San Diego, said the proposal drew widespread attention only after media coverage earlier this year. Alliance San Diego, a human rights organization, has been monitoring the issue and helped organize opposition to the plan. Nearly 200 organizations signed a coalition letter opposing the DMV data-sharing proposal, and demonstrators protested at a San Francisco DMV office earlier this month.
“A lot of organizations weren’t aware of these conversations until, thankfully, the CalMatters article came out and brought air into this conversation for everybody who has not had a seat at the table,” Schmitte said. “If you were really serious about protecting Californians and doubling down on privacy concerns, you wouldn’t be running away from these conversations.”
The DMV also faces a legal hurdle beyond the budget. State law generally bars the department from sharing Social Security numbers collected through the licensing process. The DMV’s own budget request noted that additional legislation would be needed before California could provide that information to the national association.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, whose board is made up of motor vehicle officials from across the country, has said its database cannot be searched broadly and requires specific information, such as a person’s name and date of birth.
A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said discussions over the DMV funding are continuing. Staff for two other lawmakers did not respond to requests for information about the negotiations.
Newsom’s office referred questions to the Department of Finance. H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the department, said talks “have been underway and are continuing.”
Andrea Guerrero, founding executive director of Alliance San Diego, said the state is running out of time to reach a satisfactory compromise before the DMV’s planned launch date.
“It’s hard to imagine what kind of change could be made while we’re standing at the end of a plank,” Guerrero said.
Original source: CalMatters
These I’mmigrants are driving 80000 thousand dollar trucks why can’t we help our own first?!