The Columbus Dispatch
Posted at 4:30 AM By authorizing a study of a potential municipal identification card, Columbus City Council has opened an important discussion that must include the larger community. A primary purpose for city-issued cards elsewhere has been to allow undocumented immigrants to live safer, more regulated lives — to be able to prove to police officers who they are and to enter a child’s school building, but also to allow access to bank accounts so they can avoid keeping large amounts of cash and becoming targets for criminals. Undocumented immigrants aren’t the only ones who could benefit from an easier-to-obtain ID card. For other vulnerable people, such as the homeless and those whose lives have been upended by addiction or mental illness, a city ID could be the first step in re-establishing their place in the community. Still, considering a municipal ID system means deciding whether Columbus wants to extend that helping hand to the thousands of undocumented people who live and work here. We think the idea has merit; one doesn’t have to settle the immigration debate to understand that allowing people living among us to do so more responsibly and safely is better for everyone. A city ID card wouldn’t change anyone’s citizenship status or make it easier to get a driver’s license or any other form of ID. Ideally, it would make everyday life easier and more productive for those who need one. Backers of the idea also offer other potential benefits, such as fostering “community pride” or offering resident discounts at museums and other attractions. Chicago’s new CityKey cards can also function as library cards or reloadable public-transit passes. A sense of pride and belonging are undoubtedly good but can be achieved many ways other than through an ID card. Coordinating a new card with the Columbus Metropolitan Library or COTA transit system seems redundant and likely to make the project more complicated and expensive, but if local attractions want to offer discounts to residents based on a city ID card, that’s great. Mayor Andrew J. Ginther isn’t sold on the idea and declined to sign the ordinance authorizing the $9,000 study. We hope the two Franklin University professors hired for the study will focus on the concrete — how much a card system would cost and how cards have been used in other cities — so council members can make a truly informed decision.
2 Comments
samuel kwame asumang
11/8/2022 18:45:07
i want to know how i can get my colombus STATE INCURANCE AND CITY ID AS A REFUGE MIGRANT
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