Bowing to federal pressure to crack down on undocumented immigrants, the O'Malley administration announced yesterday that in two years it would begin requiring all driver's license applicants to present a birth certificate, passport or some other documentation to prove they are legal residents of the United States.
With surrounding states already lining up to comply with the federal REAL ID law, state officials said they had to follow suit or Maryland residents might have trouble boarding commercial air flights or getting into federal buildings.
"We can't be an island," Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari told members of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. "We can't be the only jurisdiction out there that is not going to do this."
Maryland is one of a handful of states that do not currently require proof of legal presence in the country before issuing or renewing a driver's license. Seven states have passed legislation rejecting the federal law, but two of those states recently announced plans to comply, according to John T. Kuo, chief of Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration.
Even so, state officials made it clear they were complying reluctantly. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Gov. Martin O'Malley called REAL ID bad policy but said he had agreed to go along to prevent Maryland from becoming a magnet for those unable to get licenses elsewhere.
"We'd become an attraction to people who feel that they can more easily obtain a license through fraudulent means here because there's one less thing they have to prove," O'Malley said.
Porcari told lawmakers yesterday that Marylanders likely would wind up paying $15 more for a new or renewed driver's license to cover the costs of following the federal law. He called it a backdoor effort by Congress to require a national identification card, and he warned that the extra scrutiny required of applicants probably would force delays on everyone, including those born in this country, in processing their paperwork.
"Our citizens, quite frankly, are going to be shocked by what is going to be required, such as finding an original of a birth certificate," he said. Predicting "major degradations of service" at the MVA, he added: "If you wait until the day before your birthday to walk in and renew your license, you will not walk out with a new license."
