Milwaukee County Board Approved Municipal ID For Undocumented Immigrants And Underdocumented County Residents

Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee have both approved a Municipal identification card for undocumented immigrants and for underdocumented County residents.

By H. Nelson Goodson 

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

November 9, 2015

Milwaukee, WI - On Monday, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on a 14-3 vote approved an amendment to create a Municipal Identification card in the County Budget for 2016. Last Tuesday, the Milwaukee Common Council also approved an amendment to create a Community Identification Card Special Purpose Account of $150K in the Mayor Tom Barrett's proposed 2016 budget. 

The Municipal ID will be used for County identification purposes, open a bank account, obtain a library card, get County museum and park discounts, getting prescriptions, Milwaukee Transit discounts for seniors, visiting inmates by relatives and would allow for local law enforcement to identify County residents. The Municipal ID won't be valid for voting identification.

The Milwaukee County Finance Committee had approved an amendment to create a Municipal ID as well on the Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's 2016 budget. 

Both the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County will work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will establish the framework for the creation and issuance of community ID's. The Office of Government Affairs provided $150K in an allocated contingency fund account to be used for the Community ID program contingent upon the County's acceptance of the MOU and confirmation that the City of Milwaukee will match the County's contribution.

The Municipal ID is the result of the Wisconsin Republican controlled legislature and Governor Scott Walker's (R) failure to approve a state picture driving permit for undocumented immigrants to legally drive in Wisconsin.