Dec. 6, 2007 – 8:41 p.m.
Arizona will join three other states in producing enhanced driver’s licenses that U.S. citizens will be able to use to cross the border under stricter requirements that will soon be in place, Gov.
Napolitano, a Democrat, signed an agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security
Some states and civil liberties groups have lobbied against the law, alleging privacy concerns and complaining that it is an unfunded federal mandate on the states.
At the signing ceremony in Washington, Napolitano said the licenses will eventually help employers comply with a new state law that takes effect Jan. 1 that subjects employers to tougher penalties for hiring illegal workers. The border-crossing licenses should be available in 2008, she said, but not by Jan. 1. They also will not be available in time for stricter travel documentation requirements at the U.S. border that will begin to take effect early next year under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Arizona is the first southern border state to agree to the enhanced border-crossing driver’s licenses; Washington, Vermont and New York already have such agreements. DHS is “far along in discussion” with Texas, California and Michigan on those states producing border-crossing driver’s licenses, Chertoff said.
Arizonans will also be able to opt for a Real ID-compliant license with or without the border-crossing component.
Chertoff said DHS will finalize the Real ID driver’s license standards “within about a month . . . maybe six weeks,” about 10 months after the standards were first proposed. The Real ID Act requires states to comply with minimum security standards for issuing driver’s licenses or identification cards — otherwise, the IDs from non-abiding states will cease to be accepted for boarding flights and entering federal buildings.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, included in the 2004 intelligence overhaul law (PL 108-458), requires U.S. citizens and other travelers entering the United States will be required to present a passport or other approved documents when coming from countries previously exempt from such documentation requirements. DHS will institute the requirements for land and sea border crossings near the end of next summer. In the interim, beginning Jan. 31, 2008, DHS intends to stop accepting oral declarations of citizenship as the sole means of entering the country by land or sea. U.S. and Canadian citizens will instead need to present a passport, or, alternatively, a government-issued photo ID plus proof of citizenship — such as a driver’s license and birth certificate.
Eleanor Stables can be reached at estables@cq.com.