Fragile sense of community under attack in ID fight

For sheer, calculated meanness, you just can’t beat the Florida Legislature.

The public knows it can rely on Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee to keep making things worse — especially for those who are less fortunate and living on the margins of American society.

A year ago, the GOP supermajority strongly disapproved of the fact that in the most heavily urbanized parts of the state — Broward, Palm Beach and MiamiDade counties — local governments, law enforcement and religious leaders had all teamed up to provide community ID cards to people.

Who thought this was a good idea? Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, for one. So did the top cops in Miami and MiamiDade, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the South Florida Catholic diocese.

“Many of these people have no official documents that can identify them when asked for an ID for something as simple as visiting a relative in the hospital,” Wenski wrote to Miami-Dade commissioners in a letter making the rounds again at the state Capitol.

“For this reason, we recognize the value of a community ID for these immigrants and others who call Miami home, but do not have ready access to securing a legal ID document,” he wrote. “Whenever and wherever possible, a community ID could make a big difference by helping to bring a sense of belonging and dignity to those on the margins.”

The IDs are distributed by local legal aid groups to, among others, poor elderly people, foster children, newly released prison inmates and the homeless — groups used to the cold wrath of an uncaring Legislature. As we said in an editorial during the COVOD-19 pandemic in 2021, some people without a photo ID were even afraid to get vaccinated in Broward.

Community IDs are for people already living and working here — yes, including non-citizens. They’re the ones cooking the food at your favorite restaurant, fixing your roof after a storm blows through, and mowing your grass.

A community ID can help them open a bank account, pick up a child from a day care program, apply for food stamps or other public services, visit a friend in the hospital, and earn a living, such as getting inside a gated community to trim the hedges.

Think about it: A photo ID is absolutely indispensable in today’s society.

As Legal Aid Service of Broward notes prominently on its website, it’s important to also note what these IDs don’t do: They don’t allow anyone to drive, vote, fly on an airplane or receive public benefits. They don’t alter anyone’s immigration status, either.

Most of all, the little ID card gives its owner a sense of belonging, and probably makes them feel safer.

The irrationally anti-immigrant crowd in Tallahassee obviously doesn’t like that. So last year, they passed a law (SB 1718) prohibiting the use of public money to provide an ID card to a person who could not demonstrate proof of U.S. citizenship.

But after passing that mean-spirited law, the demand for community IDs continued, and more people got them (about 8,500 people in Broward alone, at last count). The next public forum to issue IDs will be on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Comunidad Cristiana of Pembroke Pines at 8527 Pines Blvd.

So this session, the Legislature wants to go further and block the issuance of any more ID cards by cities and counties (HB 1451). The people who now have community ID cards can keep them, but if the bill becomes law, no one else will be able to get one after July 1. This is just plain mean, and it will further marginalize people who live here.

Democrats, all of whom voted against the bill, foresee problems ahead, especially for students and people who come here from other states that provide community IDs, such as New York. In the House subcommittee where the bill passed Thursday on a 12-5 vote, all five opponents were from Broward.

They are Reps. Robin Bartleman of Weston, Dan Daley of Coral Springs, Lisa Dunkley of Sunrise, Mike Gottlieb of Davie and Marie Woodson of Hollywood.

They could not stop the madness of the majority. In this one bill, Republicans managed to trample on local government home rule, reject the expert advice of law enforcement and clergy, and make life more difficult for people already beset by challenges.

That’s your Legislature at work.