House Bill Targets Community IDs

A bill that would stop government and law enforcement from recognizing community IDs as a viable form of identification is currently awaiting vote in the North Carolina General Assembly. House Bill 167 would prohibit government officials from accepting matricula consular — a Mexican-issued identification card — and community IDs.

Erendira Mendez, the education, advocacy, and bridge-building department manager for FaithAction International House, the providers of the statewide-used FaithAction ID, says this will hurt people who can’t get a state ID. 

"So the way we see the effects or the impacts of this is through, you know, people wanting to get water services or people wanting to get married and apply for your marriage license, go to court if they have a citation, they cannot use the ID anymore," she says.

FaithAction International House is an organization that serves immigrant communities. The organization’s ID is currently recognized by law enforcement and schools in several of North Carolina’s counties, including Guilford and Forsyth. It can also be used for a myriad of daily, basic processes: to receive medical services, drop off and pick up your kids from school, and to register people in shelters.

Mendez says that even though she’s a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipient and has a state-issued ID, she usually prefers using the FaithAction ID. 

"I have a driver’s license through DACA. And yes, it has its limitations and red letters, " she says, "but when I have my FaithAction ID, it makes me feel like I'm part of something."

The FaithAction ID is open to the public, regardless of immigration status, but if the bill goes into effect, the people who could suffer the most are undocumented immigrants who have no access to state identification in North Carolina. 

This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. 

Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.

Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022