The Biden Administration is looking into a new program that would see undocumented migrants receiving special ID cards to access public programs while they await decisions on their immigration status.
Currently, many immigrants in the country illegally have trouble accessing healthcare, housing, and transportation while they wait for courts to decide on their applications. This is mostly due to the lack of proper identification.
According to a report from Axios, the Biden White House is hoping that the new identification program would incentivize these migrants to check in when they enter the country and communicate more regularly with law enforcement as they await the decision.
An ICE spokesperson said that the new ID cards would have a photograph, a biological signature, and other so-called “cutting-edge security features.” The new cards would not be issued to migrants being detained by the Center for Border Protection (CBP) as well as any other unauthorized people going through the removal process.
The decision comes as the United States is reeling from the Biden immigration crisis which has seen roughly 900,000 undocumented migrants enter the country while avoiding detection from the border patrol since October, 2021.
Despite the claims from the White House that the program would help reduce the burden of illegal immigration on the country, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it will have the exact opposite effect.
“During the worst border crisis in history, the Biden administration is now handing out ID cards to illegal migrants to make it easier to travel throughout the United States,” the House Minority leader said. “This is the exact opposite of what he should be doing.”
To get the program passed Joe Biden would still require Congressional approval. This puts a hard timeline in place as many pollsters are suggesting that Democrats will lose control in the House and Senate in the upcoming November elections, making such a program all but impossible to pass if they miss the deadline.
What do you think of Biden’s proposed ID cards for undocumented migrants? Will it actually work or will giving them access to social benefits incentivize even more to cross the US-Mexico border?
