New Orleans approves municipal ID cards for residents | Local Politics | nola.com

Nov 09, 2024

Mayor LaToya Cantrell talks to the New Orleans City Council while presenting her budget at City Hall on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)

The New Orleans City Council on Thursday agreed to set up a municipal ID program, aligning New Orleans with cities across the country that offer government identification to residents who need or want it.

The council unanimously signed off on a push by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to create the IDs, which would be offered to all residents but are aimed at helping people who can’t easily get state identification, such as homeless residents, immigrants or formerly incarcerated people.

Though Louisiana requires state ID applicants to submit birth certificates, passports, or immigration documents, New Orleans' goal is to be looser in its requirements. But just what will be needed to obtain the cards will be sorted out in the coming months by Cantrell's administration, which plans to hire a manager to run the ID program.

Cantrell, who has pushed for municipal IDs for years, said in a statement that the cards will ensure “no one in our city is left behind due to lack of identification.”

“It’s a key to city services that enhances quality of life, providing access to opportunities and helping people connect with their community, regardless of their race, socioeconomic background, or identity,” the mayor said.

City Council President Helena Moreno stressed that when the program is online, the cards would be available to all residents.

“We want everyone in the city to come and get one of these city IDs,” she said.

Advocates say such programs are needed to remove barriers some residents face when trying to rent an apartment, open a bank account, or do other routine things that require government-issued identification.

“It shows not just compassion, but just a basic point of entry,” said Mary Moran, executive director of Our Voice Nuestra Voz. “We are becoming more welcoming and more inclusive. It's taken some years.”

The city's IDs would facilitate access to housing, jobs and community services, according to Cantrell's administration. All city departments would accept the municipal cards as a valid proof of city residency.

Cantrell first pushed for the IDs when she served on the council. In 2014, she authored a resolution that floated the cards, among other steps, as a way to make the city more welcoming to immigrants.

Moreno, another longtime advocate for local IDs, said she hoped the cards would eventually allow for discounts at museums and other attractions, which might incentivize more residents to sign up for them.

New Orleans City Council Vice President Helena Moreno

Residents could not, however, use the cards to sign up to vote, Moreno said, adding that she'd consulted with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.

The ordinance guarantees municipal identification will be available to anyone regardless of housing status, criminal record, national origin and several other personal circumstances.

A Cantrell spokesperson said the finer details of how the program would work, and just when it would begin would be decided later.

New Orleans joins 42 cities across the country who have similar ID programs, according to research by local nonprofit Our Voice Nuestra Voz.

New Haven, Conn. pioneered municipal identification cards in 2007 as a way to help immigrants access banking services and report crimes, according to the Center for Popular Democracy, a national advocacy organization for minorities and low-income people. Immigrants in that city had become frequent robbery targets because they were assumed to be carrying cash, and they were often afraid to report the crimes to police, who might report them to immigration enforcement if they couldn't show identification.

New Haven's program allows residents to provide foreign-issued government identification to prove their identity. They may prove their residency with utility or insurance bills, a bank statement, employment stub or voter registration.

Other cities have looser guidelines, and San Francisco explicitly invites immigrants to apply. In that city, a letter from a hospital or social services agency suffices to prove residency.

Email Ben Myers at [email protected].