The funding, excluded from a budget agreement released by the Assembly and Senate, would have helped connect California to a national system used by states to check whether a person holds more than one driver’s license or state identification card. The DMV had planned to begin responding to other states’ requests for information on California drivers early next year.

At issue is the State-to-State system and its SPEX platform, operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization made up of motor vehicle officials from across the country. The system is intended to help states detect duplicate licenses and identification cards.

Immigrant-rights advocates say the proposal could expose sensitive information about more than 1 million California license holders who are not federally authorized to live in the country. California has allowed residents to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status since 2014 under Assembly Bill 60.

Opponents are particularly concerned that the system records the last five digits of a driver’s Social Security number and uses a placeholder, such as “99999,” for people who do not have one. They argue that such markers could make it easier to identify drivers without Social Security numbers.

Advocates fear that if the information becomes available through the multi-state system, it could eventually reach U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol and be used in deportation efforts. DMV officials and the governor’s office have said the data-sharing plan is necessary to comply with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, which sets standards for state identification used at federal facilities, including airports.

In response to the Legislature’s budget move, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security urged people without federal authorization to live in the United States to leave the country.

The state Senate’s budget proposal, released Tuesday, did not include funding for the DMV’s interstate verification program. Lawmakers face a June 15 constitutional deadline to pass a budget, but negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom can continue through June 30.

Leaving the $55 million out of the budget does not necessarily kill the DMV plan. The funding could still be restored during negotiations between legislative leaders and the governor’s office, or revived later through a budget trailer bill or another spending measure.

Still, advocates say the decision makes it less likely that the DMV will receive the money by July 1, the date the department had set for beginning data sharing. Jessie Schmitte, state policy manager for Alliance San Diego, a human rights community organization that has been monitoring the proposal, said the issue drew broad concern once more groups learned about it.

Nearly 200 organizations signed a coalition letter opposing the DMV’s data-sharing plan. The proposal also prompted protests earlier this month at a DMV office in San Francisco.

“Many organizations were unaware these conversations were happening until reporting brought the issue to light,” Schmitte said. “If they were serious about protecting Californians and strengthening privacy, they would not be avoiding these conversations.”

The DMV also faces a legal hurdle beyond funding. California law generally bars the department from sharing Social Security numbers collected during the licensing process for most purposes. That means additional legislation would be needed before the state could provide that information to the national nonprofit, a requirement the DMV noted in its own budget request.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators says its database is designed to prevent people from holding licenses or identification cards in multiple states at the same time. The association has said the database cannot be searched in bulk and requires specific information, such as a name and date of birth.

Privacy and immigrant-rights advocates remain worried that local officials in other states could use information from the database to flag suspected undocumented immigrants and pass that information to federal authorities.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said discussions over 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. Department spokesperson HD Palmer said discussions “have been underway and continue.”

Andrea Guerrero, founding executive director of Alliance San Diego, said it appears unlikely that the concerns can be resolved before the DMV’s target date.

“It is hard to imagine what kinds of changes could be made when we are standing at the end of the plank,” Guerrero said.

Ed Hasbrouck, a civil liberties advocate with The Identity Project, attended the San Francisco protests and took part in an April call with the governor’s office and the DMV about the data-sharing plan. He said he was encouraged that lawmakers delayed the funding, but warned that once California driver data enters a multi-state database, safeguards will be difficult or impossible to enforce.

Hasbrouck said the state ultimately must choose between maintaining the privacy assurances tied to AB 60 licenses and complying with the Real ID Act in the way the DMV has proposed.

“It has been put off, but it is a decision the state is going to have to make,” he said. “It cannot simply avoid it.”

Original source: CalMatters

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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

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The head of Mexico’s immigration agency has ordered the suspension of migrant deportations and transfers due to a lack of funds amid a record-setting year for migration through the country’s territory.

The suspensions were outlined in an agency memo dated Dec. 1 from director Francisco Garduño, whose authenticity was confirmed to the Associated Press by an agency official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.

Mexico’s finance ministry suspended payments to the National Immigration Institute in November due to end-of-year budget adjustments, according to the memo.

Citing budget constraints “and the lack of liquidity to cover commitments,” Garduño ordered a halt to various agency activities, most notably the “assisted returns,” a government euphemism to describe deportations, and “ground transportation for transfer of irregular migrants.”

Mexico’s government had been frequently moving migrants from points north near the U.S. border to locations in the south in part to relieve pressure on border cities, but also to exhaust migrants, according to advocates.

Mexico has recorded nearly 590,000 undocumented migrants in its territory this year, a significant increase compared to 440,000 in all of last year and fewer than 310,000 in 2021, according to government data.

Mexico has already deported far fewer migrants this year than in recent years. From January to October, the government deported 51,000 migrants, compared to nearly 122,000 in all of last year and more than 130,000 in 2021.

Deportations had precipitously dropped in April following a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

The fire killed 40 migrants and injured 27 more. The tragedy threw the immigration agency into chaos and it temporarily closed dozens of its detention centers. Garduño and seven other officials face criminal charges related to the deadly fire. Six of them were charged with homicide.

Deportations had just picked up again in October, when Mexico began sending migrants back to their countries, including flights to Cuba and Venezuela.

With the halt to funding, “Mexico is likely to rely more heavily on National Guard soldiers for migration management, a mission that they are barely prepared to fulfill,” said Adam Isacson, an immigration analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America.

“The result is likely to be a sharp decline in Mexico’s migrant apprehensions during December, and migrants may have a modestly easier time than usual reaching the U.S. border.”

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