KINGSTON CITY HAS ISSUED 400 IDS
Unclear how many undocumented immigrants are receiving IDs
Nearly 400 city identification cards have been issued since a program was put in place to hand them out.
But the city can’t provide information that would indicate how many applicants who are undocumented immigrants are actually receiving the municipal IDs.
Mayor Steve Noble revealed the number of IDs issued last week.
“We have issued 393 municipal IDs – these are identification cards for Kingston residents, not undocumented immigrant IDs ... . ,” Noble said in an email. “Anyone receiving an ID has to provide documentation, and our City Clerk estimates that 97 percent of the residents applying for the City of Kingston ID have shown a passport or driver’s license to obtain it.”
However, Noble said, the
breakdown between people who supplied a stateissued driver’s license or a passport could not be provided.
“The 97 percent figure was an estimate, as we don’t keep track of the documents provided,” Noble said in a later email. “As stated in the local law itself, we don’t keep any record of the documentation for individuals who are approved for and receive a Kingston ID card – it’s either returned or destroyed.”
Noble did not say why that is the case.
“The remaining (estimated) 3 percent of applicants for the City of Kingston ID provided a combination of the required documents,” Noble said.
The mayor did provide a link to a link of accepted documents on the city website at https://www.kingston-ny.gov/kingstonid.
“We have had a few people apply who are from Town of Ulster, or even folks coming down from Saugerties and weren’t able to issue them an ID because they’re not residents of Kingston,” Noble added. “The process has been pretty smooth and our clerk’s office has done a great job to provide this service to our fellow residents.”
“Many have told me how much it means to them to have a City of Kingston ID and people are enjoying the discounts around town,” Noble said.
In early June, the city began issuing its municipal ID cards, a bit earlier than expected.
Noble had said the new equipment also will be used for the Kingston Police Department’s Child ID program.
The Kingston Common Council voted unanimously in favor of the municipal ID cards in early December 2018, and Noble signed the legislation two weeks later.
The program aims to provide valid identification to people who might not otherwise be able to get it, including undocumented immigrants, but all Kingston residents would have access to the new cards.
The intent of the program, the legislation states, is “to build the city of Kingston’s standing as a welcoming and inclusive center for all residents, without regard to a person’s race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, immigration, housing, financial status or other marks of distinction.”
The legislation states residents’ lack of access to acceptable forms of identification can raise public safety concerns. For instance, residents without access to bank accounts often carry large amounts of money or store it in their homes, making them targets for crime; and residents who cannot produce proof of identity often are reluctant to report crimes they suffer or witness.
Municipal ID cards would reduce those impacts, improve public safety and enable all city residents to participate more fully in the community, the legislation states.
Completed applications and personal data gathered during the application process will be destroyed, other than the applicant’s photograph, name and date of birth. And that information will be maintained confidentially.