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I was reading a story on Yahoo! News about San Fransisco’s plan to issue ID cards to, “illegal immigrants, transgender people and other residents who may be unable or unwilling to get a state-issued driver’s license.” I found it interesting that the picture along side of the story is of a woman casting a ballot. After all, isn’t new Democratic voters the hoped for result of these programs?

Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced the ID card concept after Congress failed to adopt immigration reform legislation this summer and following a series of federal immigration raids in the Bay area.

“Our city just can’t stand by while our federal government takes no action to address the safety needs of our community,” he said. “If our friends and neighbors are not fully able to participate with us in civic life, we all lose in the end.” [my emphasis]

Or, here’s an idea, if they want to participate in civic life why not do so in the country in which they are legally allowed?