Illegal Immigrants in LA Could Get Library Cards that Double as ID

Nearly two weeks after California's State Senate voted to allow its almost 450,000 undocumented immigrants, mostly Latinos, to soon be able to apply for drivers licenses, Los Angeles officials are considering a plan to turn the library card into a form of identification that could be used to open bank accounts and access an array of city services.

The cards would not be a substitute for driver's licenses and would not provide any protection from deportation by federal immigration authorities.

A 2010 Pew Health Group report estimated that 300,000 people in Los Angeles don't have a bank account. Nearly 70 percent are foreign born, earn between $10,000 and $15,000 a year and have been in the United States, on average, about 14 years.

A number of cities across the country offer different forms of ID to undocumented workers and L.A.'s City Council unanimously voted recently to consider the proposal.

The ID card would include a name, address and a photograph, and would be issued through the city's libraries. The city would help set up bank accounts for those who want to use the library ID as a debit card. Banking services would include direct deposit, international and domestic money transfers and the debiting.

The library card will be available for anyone able to provide proof of L.A. residency.

Councilman Richard Alarcon proposed the concept and he said that in his Northeast Valley district, some immigrants who don't use banks end up being ripped-off by payday lenders or robbed if they keep large sums of cash on hand.

Alarcon said linking the cards to L.A.'s library system would help promote "financial literacy" among immigrants.

"We test students all the time on academic ability," he said. "But we don't determine if they are capable of handling their financial affairs. The foreclosure crisis demonstrated that there are a lot of people who are not."

Officials said applicants will pay between $15 and $20 for the card and then would be able to deposit and withdraw money through a network of ATMs at local grocery stores and shopping malls. There could also be a monthly fee of up to $2.99.

In San Francisco City, the ID card is accepted as a form of identification by most city banks, airlines and local businesses and lists a user's medical conditions and an emergency contact.

In 2007, a New York City councilman proposed an ID card for city residents regardless of status. The proposal never got a committee hearing and died from lack of support. City ID cards are not the only way for illegal immigrants to get bank accounts.