January 21, 07

NEWS / ID LAWS TARGETING ILLEGALS HIT HOMELESS TRYING TO REBUILD

It�s tough to get a job when you can�t prove who you are.

Colorado Springs resident Kevin Dobkins knows. He said his identification documents were lost more than a year ago, and he has been homeless since.

�You can�t do anything without an ID,� Dobkins said. �You�re out of luck, you�re nobody, you don�t exist.�

The 36-year-old is among a growing number of legal residents feeling the effects of an effort to stop illegal immigrants from receiving government benefits. Homeless people are especially hard hit, advocates say.

The problem for these citizens is they don�t have identification such as a
driver�s license. An ID is essential for participating in modern life � getting a job or welfare benefits, signing a lease or getting a loan. And to get an ID, in many cases, one must already have other forms of ID.

The law was changed because some illegal immigrants buy fake documents on the black market and pass themselves off as citizens or legal residents. But for people like Dobkins, the time and money required to comply with the law can worsen a tenuous per- sonal and financial situation.

�It�s unreal. I�ve had my license since I was 17 years old, and I�ve never run into problems like this,� he said. �I�ve never even thought about it as something that could become a problem.�

NEW LAWS MAKE IT TOUGHER

ID has been a long-standing challenge for homeless people, but the issue has become more troublesome since Colorado lawmakers blocked illegal immigrants from getting many government services.

In an emergency session on illegal immigration in July, state lawmakers passed a measure requiring adults to prove they are in the U.S. legally before they receive public benefits. The law went into effect Aug. 1. It doesn�t apply to services for children, emergency medical help and a few other types of services.

Anyone applying for public benefits must show a driver�s license, a state ID card, a military ID card or an American Indian tribal document.

To get a driver�s license or state ID, the most common documents, the state Department of Revenue says applicants must show various other forms of ID. That�s where some people run into problems, particularly the homeless.

Many people lose IDs after run-ins with police or other events that sometimes accompany a slide into homelessness, said Joe Richard, manager of Social Services for Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs.

Richard�s agency helps people through the process of getting ID. The only ID some clients start out with was issued by a state prison, which won�t work to get a driver�s license or state ID card. Some clients don�t even have that, Richard said.

�We have a ton of people walking through here that just do not have anything,� he said.

Similar challenges could spread nationwide after a new federal law takes effect. The Real ID Act says that starting in 2008 residents of every state must prove their citizenship to receive a driver�s license or state ID.

Colorado already enforces a similar law. Under the federal rules, applicants would need to produce a passport or birth certificate.

NAVIGATING THE PROCESS

About 11 million citizens nationwide don�t have either of those documents, according to a survey conducted a year ago for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

It�s possible for someone starting from scratch to get an ID, Richard said, but often it�s not easy.

Usually the first step is getting a birth certificate. Each state has its own requirements for issuing a birth certificate � in Colorado, applicants must show other ID such as a driver�s license, photo ID card, college ID card or passport.

For someone who doesn�t have any of those documents, authorities allow someone else, such as a family member, to get the birth certificate on his behalf. The family member must show proof of the relationship such as his or her own birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a certified court order or an insurance policy.

Getting a birth certificate can be more complicated for someone born in another state, because it requires corresponding by mail or working through a company that specializes in obtaining the documents. Someone who�s estranged from family or whose family members are dead can be in a real bind.

�A lot of guys that I get in here, they�re homeless and they�ve been homeless for years,� Richard said. �They don�t know where their family�s at, or they�re deceased. When that happens, I�ve actually had people say �I think I�m going to go out and commit a crime so I can get thrown in jail and have a place to live.��

After getting a birth certificate, many clients pursue a replacement Social Security card. Then they can get a Colorado state ID card, and that opens the way for a job and permanent housing.

It�s typical for the process to take four to six weeks, Richard said. Meanwhile, he sometimes runs interference with a homeless shelter, asking the staff to allow an extended stay while the wheels of bureaucracy turn.

Dobkins figures he�s spent a cumulative six months trying to get ID. He said he had Texas ID when he came to Colorado Springs from Houston with a carnival company in 2004. In September 2005, Dobkins said he was caught up in a police bust of a roommate who was doing illegal drugs. By the time he got out of jail two months later, his ID was gone.

Dobkins said he was shuttled from one agency to another but rarely got any help. Meanwhile, he was living on the street or, more recently, in the Salvation Army shelter.

�One loop led to another loop, which led right back to another loop,� he said. �It was very aggravating and frustrating. I almost gave up.�

Finally, with help from Catholic Charities, Dobkins got a replacement Social Security card and birth certificate late last year and then successfully applied for a state ID card, which arrived last week. He said he expects to get a job soon.

A conflict in Colorado over how the government issues new IDs flared last month. On Dec. 15, a Denver judge struck down a state rule requiring two corroborating documents to issue a new driver�s license or ID card. The Colorado Department of Revenue retooled its rules, which now in some cases will issue an ID to an applicant with only one document.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, which argued a two-document rule violated state law and was too burdensome on the poor and homeless.

�It�s definitely not just a homeless problem, (but) it hits the homeless hardest,� said Timothy Macdonald, a lawyer who represents the homeless coalition. Macdonald said the coalition expects to work with state officials to further refine state rules.

AN UPHILL STRUGGLE

Government workers are struggling to accommodate people who might qualify for a driver�s license or ID card but can�t prove their identities first. Among those workers is Bob Becker, the Motor Vehicle Department manager for El Paso County, whose office issues replacement IDs on behalf of the state.

Becker said just about every day his staff has to turn away people who apply for an ID but lack the documents to get one. He recently tried to help a homeless woman whose only ID was a wristband from the Boulder County jail.

The woman told Becker she needed an ID so she could get a job.

She was estranged from family, so no one could help her get a birth certificate.

Becker doesn�t know whether the woman was able to get an ID.

�It�s very, very difficult to become someone when you�ve lost everything,� he said.

By PERRY SWANSON THE GAZETTE

Tags: marriage, birth certificate, document, getting a birth certificate, birth certificat, get a birth certificate, marriage certificate,