Wisconsin Bans Local ID's For Undocumented Immigrants Issued By Municipal Governments

Governor Walker signs SB 533/AB 723 bill regulating the production and issuing of local municipal government  ID's in the state, prohibiting undocumented immigrants from applying for them. One of the SB 533/AB 723 co-sponsors was State Representative Rodriguez who was an illegal alien herself before gaining legal status in the U.S.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

April 25, 2016

Madison, WI - On Monday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) signed into law Senate Bill 533 (AB 723) now Act 372 that will regulate the production and issuing of local municipal Identification Cards (ID's) in the state. The bill was created to prohibit undocumented immigrants in the shadows and homeless people living in Wisconsin from getting some sort of ID to be identified when opening a bank account, getting prescriptions and other local purposes including helping police to at least identify a person. The bill only allows for local ID's to be issued for employment purposes.

Senate Bill 533, now Act 374, which amends 6.34 (3) (a) 3.;and creates 66.0438 of the statues to regulate the production and use of photo identification cards by local units of government to protect taxpayers and the integrity of elections. The bill was introduced by Senators Van Wanggard (R–Racine), LeMahieu, Lasee, Gudex, Kapenga, Stroebel, Nass and Lazich, including State Representatives Joe Sanfelippo (R–New Berlin), Jessie Rodriguez (R-Franklin), Brandtjen, Allen, Born, Craig, Duchow, Gannon, Kremer, J. Ott, Skowronski and Weatherston.

Ironically, State Representative Rodriguez immigrated and entered the U.S. from El Salvador as an illegal alien who later gained her legal status was one of the co-sponsors of SB 533/AB 723, which is considered an anti-immigrant bill copied from the State of Arizona when it was first introduced in that state. Arizona legislators failed to pass the ID bill that was later copied by Wisconsin state legislators. 

Wisconsin Governor Walker decided to sign the bill into law on Monday adding Wisconsin on the national spotlight as another anti-immigrant state in the U.S.

In February, at least 60,000 people converged at the Madison Capital to rally against SB 533/AB 723.

In response of Governor Walker's signing SB 533 into law, Voces de la Frontera (VDLF), a workers and immigrant rights organization released the following statement by its executive director. "Governor Walker and the Republicans in the State Legislature should be ashamed of themselves for taking away local governments' ability to recognize and respond to the needs of some of their most vulnerable constituents, and they will suffer consequences for their bigotry," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. "We made it clear that if this bill was passed we would call for a boycott of one of Governor Walker's largest corporate funders, and on May 1st, in Milwaukee and throughout the nation, we will be calling on all people who believe in the dignity of all people to boycott Menard's."
VDLF says, it will now lobby for the City of Milwaukee to create a City ID for local residents.
On May 1st, VDLF will hold a 10th Anniversary march and rally. Also on March 23, 2006 VDLF held the largest march and rally in Wisconsin's history, more than 30,000 people attended and marched in opposition of U.S. Representative James Sensenbrenner's (R-WI) anti-immigrant bill that criminalized anyone who rendered aide to undocumented immigrants nationwide. The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) bill failed to pass the 109th Congress.
State Representative JoCasta Zamarripa (D-Milw.), released a statement condemning SB 533. Zamarripa stated, "Gov Walker signed SB 533 into law today. Anti-immigrant & anti-local govt, this bill blocks Milwaukee County from offering local ID's to undocumented immigrants & others. Wisconsin has taken a step backwards today by singling out immigrants in order to marginalized them from our public life...this law is aimed at keeping immigrants in this country in the shadows by barring individuals from using local ID's for daily life activities such as having access to services such a recycling centers, homeless shelters and health care facilities."


Editor's note: It would seem that state Republican legislators and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are actually working to aide homeland terrorist cells within the state boundaries by keeping undocumented immigrants in the shadows. Wisconsin and other states including the federal government should pass a mandatory ID law that would instruct states to issue ID's to all residents in order to identify everyone within the U.S. border regardless of having legal status or not. Today in Wisconsin and the U.S. millions of undocumented immigrants remain in the shadows not knowing who they actually are. Smh