Arizona Phoenix, Arizona (approved, then cancelled) On August 31, 2016, the city council of
Phoenix, Arizona voted 5 to 4 to create a city identification card that would be available to undocumented immigrants. The cards were to have been available by February 2017. This program was cancelled in February 2018.
Arkansas Little Rock (2018) Little Rock offers the Little Rock Identification Card to residents 14 years of age and older. When it launched in 2018, the city claims, it was "the first of its kind in the southern region of the United States". As of 2023, the city issues approximately 1,500 cards per year.
California Los Angeles, California (not issued as of 2019) On November 8, 2012, the
Los Angeles City Council voted 12 to 1 to solicit proposals for a municipal identification card. It will be modeled on the Oakland City ID system.
Oakland, California (2013) The city of
Oakland, California, has a municipal identification system, which, unusually, initially included a debit card function, for all city residents, regardless of immigration status, a move backed by the Oakland City ID Card Coalition. Unusually, the Oakland City ID initially also served as a prepaid MasterCard debit card, allowing users to reload the card with cash and receive direct deposits onto the card account. On September 13, 2011, the
Oakland City Council decided to wait for a cost and feasibility study to be completed by late October before proceeding, hoping to begin issuing ID cards in 2012, barring any unforeseen circumstances. This, however, extended into 2012, with the City Council voting in favor of the final portion of the program on October 16, 2012, the first cards of the program to be issued on February 1, 2013. By 2013, the city had issued approximately 3,000 city ID cards. The fees and costs associated with the debit card option were controversial. The card program, marketed by California company SF Global,
Richmond, California (2014) On July 5, 2011, the
Richmond city council voted unanimously to issue municipal identification cards to Richmond residents, regardless of immigration status. In a letter to the council urging passage of the measure, a city council member and the mayor argued that "many Richmond residents lack the necessary forms of official identification that are required to access financial institutions, jobs, housing, and protections for the home and workplace. These residents include immigrants, children, students, the homeless, transgender people, the indigent, the disabled, the elderly, runaway youth, and adult survivors of domestic violence." Richmond City ID launched in October 2014, originally with "an optional prepaid debit card function." The program is administered by a third-party vendor, SF Global LLC.
San Francisco, California (2009) In November 2007, the board of supervisors of
San Francisco voted to issue municipal ID cards to residents of the city, regardless of immigration status. from being robbed or assaulted. All city residents can receive the card, which serves as a form of identification,
debit card with a capacity of $150,
library card, and a way to pay for
parking meters. The cards were first issued in July 2007, and were the first municipal identification cards issued in the
United States. The card costs
$5 for children or $10 for adults.
Hartford, Connecticut (2017) First issued May 22, 2017, the Hartford City ID is a "Government-issued identification card that is available to all Hartford residents who can verify their identification and residency status in Hartford."
Florida Aventura Aventura, Florida issues the optional Aventura ID Card to its residents.
Delray Beach Delray Beach, Florida issues an optional residency identification card.
Sunny Isles Beach (2011) Sunny Isles Beach, Florida offers the free and optional Sunny Isles Beach Resident ID Card to its residents.
Illinois Chicago (2018) On October 12, 2016,
Chicago Mayor
Rahm Emanuel and then City Clerk
Susana Mendoza announced the launch of a Chicago Municipal ID program. On April 26, 2018, city officials launched the
Chicago CityKey, an optional, valid, government-issued ID card offered to all Chicago residents. CityKey serves as a three-in-one card for a valid government issued ID,
Ventra card for
Chicago Transit Authority, and
Chicago Public Library services. With the first 100,000 ID cards free of cost, initial response to the Chicago CityKey was extremely high and successful. In some city wards, residents waited hours in line to receive their card.
Indiana Elkhart (2020) In June 2020,
Elkhart,
Indiana's government passed a resolution to create a municipal identification card program called PRIDE (Proud Resident ID for Elkhart).
Goshen (2017) In partnership with the Center for Healing & Hope, the city of
Goshen launched the GRID (Goshen Resident ID) program in November 2017, after an executive order by mayor Jeremy Stutsman established its recognition.
Plymouth (2020) In 2020,
Plymouth, Indiana launched the PRIDE (Plymouth Resident Identification Endorsement) card.
South Bend (2016) In 2016,
South Bend, Indiana
mayor Pete Buttigieg signed an executive order to help enable the city to establish a city identification card. The program formally launched in December of that year through a partnership with the nonprofit La Casa de Amistad, who produce the ID cards. In the city's
2019 mayoral election, both the
Democratic Party mayoral nominee
James Mueller and the
Republican Party mayoral nominee Sean M. Haas were in favor of retaining the city identification card program. Many immigration advocates praised the program's approach for protecting
undocumented immigrants. Criticism has been made about the fact that the program, run through a nonprofit, is not subject to government transparency laws. In August 2019,
Judicial Watch launched litigation arguing that, by not disclosing staff emails related to the program, the City of South Bend was acting in violation of Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.
Michigan Washtenaw County, Michigan (2015) On November 19, 2014, the Board of Commissioners of the county of
Washtenaw,
Michigan voted in favor of creating an identification program for county residents who would otherwise be unable to obtain a photo-ID. The program officially launched in June 2015. By November 2019, Washtenaw county had issued 2,000 cards. The Washtenaw ID program became the first local ID in the Midwest, and served as a model for a similar program in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan (2016) On May 17, 2016, the city council of
Detroit,
Michigan voted in favor of the creation of a municipal identification program for city residents who struggle to otherwise obtain government-issued ID.
Minnesota Northfield, Minnesota (2018) On December 5, 2017, the city council of
Northfield, Minnesota unanimously approved an ordinance establishing a city identification card program to be implemented in March 2018.
New Jersey Counties Hudson County, New Jersey The county clerk of
Hudson County, New Jersey, Barbara A. Netchert, issues identification cards to resident of the county. The cards are available to residents of the county for a fee of ten dollars for adults and five dollars for minors, which is specified by the county as teenagers aged fourteen to sixteen.
Mercer County, New Jersey (2011) Starting in April 2011, the
Mercer County Area Community ID Card is being issued with the endorsement of the offices of the Mercer County Sheriff, the Mercer County Prosecutor, and the police departments of several municipalities, including Trenton, Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, West Windsor, Ewing Township and Plainsboro. The card is issued by the non profit Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) and is accepted by law enforcement agencies, municipal agencies, clinics, hospitals, libraries, social service agencies, and many stores and banks. Although is not an official government ID card, it facilitates access to basic community services to those who are unable to obtain other documents such as immigrants, youth, homeless persons, and those in recovery or re-entry programs. This card replaces the Trenton and Princeton Community ID cards that were issued in 2009 and 2010.
Monmouth County, New Jersey The county clerk of
Monmouth County, New Jersey, M. Clark French, issues identity cards to residents of the county. The cards are available only to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
Municipalities Asbury Park, New Jersey (2015) Asbury Park issues an identification card to city residents. The cards became available August 1, 2015.
Dover Dover, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Elizabeth Elizabeth, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Highland Park Highland Park, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Madison (2020) Madison, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Morristown Morristown, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
New Brunswick New Brunswick, New Jersey offers the New Brunswick City ID card.
Newark, New Jersey (2015) The City of Newark introduced a municipal identification program in August 2015 to all residents of Newark. Cards cost $15 for new applicants, however new applicants that are senior citizens or children only cost $8. A financial hardship application can be filed with the city if any of these fees are unable to be met by the applicant.
Paterson Paterson, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Perth Amboy Perth Amboy, New Jersey offers a municipal ID card.
Plainfield, New Jersey (2013) Starting in November 2013,
Plainfield Community ID Cards is being issued with the support of the Plainfield Police Department. This card is being issued by a non-profit group Angels For Action, Inc. They were trained and mentored by the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) from Mercer County,. and began issuing cards on December 14, 2015.
Union City, New Jersey (2017) The
Union City, NJ board of commissioners decided to enact a municipal identification program starting March 1, 2017. The program is open to any resident of the city older than 14. The system was, in part, set up to allow residents of the city to gain identification for securing financial services (e.g. bank checking account).
New York New York City (2015) In July 2007,
New York City councilman
Hiram Monserrate proposed setting up a municipal identity system for New York City residents similar to the New Haven plan. However, shortly thereafter Monserrate left the Council to the
New York State Senate and the proposal was shelved. On February 10, 2014, in his first
State of the City address, New York City Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced a new plan to create a New York City municipal identification card, named IDNYC, which would be available to all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status. While any city resident could obtain a card, the mayor announced it as a way to allow city residents who lack legal immigration status in the United States to access municipal and private services and facilities that require photo identification. The cards also provide additional benefits such as discounts on movie tickets, Broadway shows, sporting events, and YMCA memberships. Additionally, cardholders are able to open a bank account at several financial institutions in New York City. The cards were first made available on January 12, 2015. Over one million IDNYC identification cardholders were registered by April 2017. By 2020, the number of IDNYC cardholders had increased to over 1.3 million. At least one honorary IDNYC identification card has been issued – to
Pope Francis during his
September 2015 visit to New York City.
Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie, New York issues the City of Poughkeepsie Municipal ID Card.
Pennsylvania Philadelphia (2019) Philadelphia issues an optional identification card to city residents. The PHL City ID cards became available in April 2019.
Rhode Island Providence (2018) Providence, Rhode Island issues an optional identification card to city residents. The IDPVD cards became available in June 2018.
Texas El Paso (2023) In October 2023, the city council of
El Paso voted to create a pilot program for an "Enhanced Library Card" for those who are unable to obtain a driver's license or state ID card.
Other Texas cities (2022-present) Other Texas cities which have launched enhanced library card systems are
Austin,
San Antonio,
Harris County, and
Dallas.
Washington, D.C. (2014) As of May 1, 2014,
Washington, D.C. issues the DC One Card to legal residents or visitors of the U.S., though some services may be available only to residents of the District. (Some undocumented immigrants may get the card if they have been issued a state driver's license or state non-driver ID card by one of the states that issues these credentials to undocumented immigrants, such as New Mexico, Utah, and Washington; or a school ID card.) The DC One Card is a consolidated credential designed to give adults and children access to DC government facilities and programs that was designed to help the District consolidate printing ID cards and save money. The DC One Card is also a building access card for DC government employees. For all public school secondary students and those who request it, the card includes immediate Metro SmarTrip® capability to help them travel.
Wisconsin Milwaukee The city of
Milwaukee issues an optional municipal identification card to its residents. Becoming available in 2017, the cards were intended to be available for all of
Milwaukee County, but county IDs were made illegal by the
Wisconsin Legislature before they could be offered. The city IDs may be used to access city services and have been accepted as proof of identity at social venues. ==References==