International Assistance Project of Alabama, Inc.

    IAPA was founded in 1992 to help Alabama's international residents and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.  IAPA was organized by busy people who were already volunteers in their communities with other organizations, but saw the need to reach out to Alabama's new international residents.  Administration is located in Montgomery, Alabama, but IAPA has volunteers all over the state.  IAPA was established as a nonprofit, publicly supported, tax-exempt, § 501(c)(3) organization. It is a statewide network of volunteers without an office, and without a paid staff. IAPA's volunteers stay in close touch with one another, day by day, and often work very quickly to provide emergency help to Alabama's new international residents.

Publications

    IAPA has published a detailed guide for new international residents about living and working in Alabama, and a Language Identification Card for law enforcement authorities, which has been copied and is in use in communities and at military bases and posts all over the United States.  IAPA's Language Identification Card is published in 24 languages and provides contact information for law enforcement officers so that foreign nationals who come into contact with the officers may receive our help.
    Our officers regularly publish information about U.S. immigration law and visas.  For the latest "Immigration Law Update" by our Chairman and Legal Director, Boyd F. Campbell, please click on the following link:  Immigration Law Update.  His updates for the past 90 days are available on his web site by clicking on the following link:  Immigration Law Center on the Internet.

Foreign language interpreters

    IAPA organized a Linguist Databank, a repository of confidential information about Alabama interpreters and translators of more than 30 languages, who provide free emergency help to Alabama's international residents and are available for a fee for personal, business, and legal matters.  Alabama's health clinics, social service agencies, courts, and law enforcement agencies have found this resource most helpful in gaining access to skilled foreign language interpreters and translators.  For information about how to establish a formal, ongoing relationship with the IAPA's Linguist Databank, please call us at (334) 832-9090, or send your e-mail message by clicking here: SEND MAIL.

Legal Services Committee

    In 1994, IAPA's Legal Services Committee began offering free or needs based legal services to indigent foreign nationals. Since then, this committee has applied for grants to help provide legal aid for Alabama's poor international residents, but has received no support from any Alabama charitable organization or foundation.  Committee members, and other volunteers, make regular visits to poor migrant labor areas of Alabama to provide free legal assistance.  Applicants for free or needs-based legal aid must first fill out a questionnaire and affidavit of indigency for the Committee.  IAPA's Board of Directors then reviews the requests for legal aid submitted by the Committee and decides whether the cases presented are meritorious and deserving of dedication of scarce resources.  Neither the legal director, nor any member of the Legal Services Committee, receives compensation for the legal services they provide.  IAPA's legal director, Boyd Campbell, receives honoraria for speeches and workshops he gives and donates these honoraria to IAPA so that its good work can continue.
    Mr. Campbell has represented a number of abused foreign national spouses of U.S. citizens for the Family Sunshine Center, a domestic abuse shelter in Montgomery, Alabama.  The cases are filed under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Foreign national spouses and the children of U.S. citizen abusers may obtain employment authorization and eventually adjust their status to that of permanent resident if the cases are successful.  So far, IAPA has been successful in obtaining immigration benefits for all of the cases referred to us by the Family Sunshine Center.  In 2004, Mr. Campbell received the Family Sunshine Center's Justice for Victims Award, presented annually to recognize persons who assist abused spouses and children.
    Please help support this outstanding service to abused spouses and children with your financial contributions.  Without your help, most of these women and their children would receive no help and would face deportation from the United States.  Our VAWA cases are extraordinarily expensive and often require years of work in cooperation with the Family Sunshine Center.  You may send your tax-deductible contribution to:  IAPA, P.O. Box 11032, Montgomery, AL  36111-0032.  A copy of IAPA's Section 501(c)(3) IRS tax-exempt determination letter is available upon request.
    The Legal Services Committee has provided a number of immigration workshops across Alabama.  Some workshops have been coordinated by the State Board of Missions of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, P.O. Box 11870, Montgomery, AL  36111-0870, or call 1-800-264-1225, extension 220. The State Board of Missions coordinates the Language Missions Service of the Associational/Cooperative Missions Office.  Our latest immigration workshops have focused on training trainers and in developing more church-related citizenship classes and in identifying immigration problems that foreign nationals present to Language Missions volunteers.

Direct aid for international residents

    Periodically, we will add listings of agencies or organizations that provide help to Alabama's international residents.  One of the finest such organizations follows.  It is run by one our founding Board members, Jane Ferguson.  Help is available at this facility only in the Montgomery area:

Caring Center
First Baptist Community Ministries
52 Adams Avenue
Montgomery, Alabama  36104
Telephone:  (334) 241-5141
Hours:  Monday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Closed.
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, Closed.
Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

Our greatest challenge

    IAPA's greatest challenge has been to find resources to provide legal services for poor international residents who may have immigration or employment problems.  The organization has encountered bias and prejudice within Alabama charitable organizations and foundations.  IAPA is working against almost insurmountable odds to provide legal services to these poor, unserved international residents, many thousands of whom live in Alabama and work long hours for little pay to put food on our tables.  Only legal resident aliens may, by federal law, receive legal help from the Legal Services Corporation of Alabama.  IAPA's Legal Services Committee is one of the few resources that poor international residents have.  For example, we handle the immigration cases of abused foreign national spouses and children for the Family Sunshine Center without charge. These cases are very time-consuming and expensive.
    We need your help to reach the poor and foreign nationals who may not be in proper visa status.  Please contact us today if you know of a private or corporate foundation that is interested in helping Alabama's international residents, or to offer your time, talents, and tax-deductible financial contributions.  This is a crying need, and you would certainly be a saviour if you could provide help or find help for IAPA.

Officers

    Our most dedicated volunteers are our officers, who serve IAPA without pay or other compensation, and have dedicated themselves to IAPA's mission.  For a list of our current officers and how to contact them, please click on the following link:  IAPA Officers.

News

DHS warns states not to reject Real ID

    Despite several state and federal efforts to force noncompliance with the new federal identification law, or Real ID Act, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has continued work on the law's guidelines and warned states that they face consequences for failing to comply.
    The Real ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, mandates national standards for all state driver's licenses and other official documents. The DHS hasn't released a final version of its regulations based on the law, but the agency has said that it will require the documents to include a digital photograph and a bar code that can be scanned by electronic readers.
    The initial compliance deadline is next year, with full compliance required by 2013.
    The Real ID Act led to an outcry from privacy advocates and to the passage of laws in some states, including New Hampshire, that prohibit compliance with the law.
    Despite the criticism, the DHS continues to insist that the law be implemented on schedule. "I think residents of states that choose not to comply are going to be displeased with their leadership's decision when we get closer to full implementation," a DHS spokesman said. "They'll no longer be able do certain things that carriers of state-issued drivers licenses take for granted today."
    He noted that residents of states whose identification cards don't comply with the law will be prohibited from entry to airports and federal buildings. It could also block access to "certain critical infrastructure sites" such as a power plants or dams, he said.
    Critics won a small victory against the law last month when Montana's two Democratic senators, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, successfully called on colleagues to cut language from a now-stalled immigration bill that would have required all employers to check the eligibility of any potential employee by using Real ID documents.
    "My boss and Sen. Tester don't support the Real ID program, as do a majority of Montana citizens," said a Baucus spokesman. "It amounts to a national ID system, and there are privacy concerns."
    The DHS spokesman declined to offer a specific date for when the final regulations would be issued. -- Excerpt from an article written by Marc L. Songini and published by Computerworld, July 18, 2007

More states rebel at adoption of Real ID Act

    Although it is rare for states to reject an act of Congress, New Hampshire and Oklahoma in May joined Montana and Washington state in passing statutes this year refusing to go along with Real ID. The refusals mean those states' driver's licenses eventually won't be accepted as official identification when boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings.
    In addition, the Idaho Legislature purposely left out any money to comply with the act. The Georgia Legislature passed a law giving Gov. Sonny Perdue authority to ignore the measure, but he is hoping the federal government will make the act more affordable, said his spokesman, Bert Brantley.
    Jim Harper of the libertarian Cato Institute, which opposes the driver's license rules, said the states' rejections doom the act to failure. "It's more and more clear that the Real ID system won't work to secure the country," he said. More states are likely to refuse the requirements, creating a nightmare at airports where security screeners will have to distinguish between licenses that are Real ID-compliant and those that aren't, Harper said.
    The state-led revolt is putting pressure on Congress and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to change or even rescind the law, which will require states to verify the identity of all 245 million licensed drivers and impose a common set of security features.
    States have rebelled at the $14 billion in costs the act imposes on states, as well as worries that the new security system will invade residents' privacy and create what amounts to a national ID card.
    On Capitol Hill, two bills would repeal the law, one co-sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. However, an amendment to the immigration bill now being debated in the U.S. Senate would ratchet up the consequences for states that fail to comply with Real ID. The Senate's proposed immigration law would require job applicants to verify their citizenship to employers using a driver's license that meets Real ID standards or with a passport.
    "If the Senate bill passes ... everyone will need a Real ID to get their next job," said Tim Sparapani, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which has raised concerns about Real ID's threat to personal privacy.
    29 forms of ID now available Employees currently can use 29 forms of identification to establish their residency status, and only 26 percent of U.S. residents have a passport, Sparapani said. - Excerpt from an article written by Eric Kelderman and published in the Wisconsin State Journal, June 11, 2007

Illinois leader says Real ID law is 'bureaucratic nightmare'

    Illinois has joined a growing number of states encouraging the repeal of a federal law requiring all citizens to have a standardized identification card or driver's license.
    Late last month, the Illinois Senate joined the House in passing a non-binding resolution that rejects the federal Real ID Act, which mandates that all U.S. citizens have a national identification card by 2013. States are required to implement the program by 2008, and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has begun hiring personnel to launch the program.
    The action by Illinois lawmakers is not legally binding, but it does portend problems for White. Besides potentially placing Illinois in non-compliance with a federal mandate, the move sets up a likely funding shortfall in White's office. White is worried that state lawmakers won't fund the program, which he estimated would cost $150 million over the next five years.
    "It puts us in a real bind," said Dave Druker, a spokesman for White. "This is legislation that is passed by the United States Congress and federally mandated. But frankly, every indication is that the General Assembly is not going to pay for it."
    A Republican-controlled Congress passed the law, which grew out of a report from the 9/11 Commission, in 2005 as an effort to prevent terrorism. Since then, critics of Real ID have complained that it is a blatant invasion of privacy and would make citizens too vulnerable to identity theft.
    State Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood), one of the House sponsors of the resolution to reject the act, called the law a "bureaucratic nightmare."
    Illinois residents have complained about long waits at White's facilities across the state, although Druker maintained those delays are abating. But, he said, if another 4 million people besides the 8.5 million Illinois drivers have to obtain ID cards and pass through those offices by 2013, there's a good possibility of chaos. White would need to hire 300 to 400 new employees to implement the program, Druker said.
    Other critics, particularly civil libertarians, have been less charitable in their assessment of the law than Yarbrough.
    Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said a government database of all citizens and some of their personal information smacks of Big Brotherism and would be a gold mine for identity thieves. He noted that the state's database of driver's licenses has fought off tens of thousands of improper access attempts.
    Under Real ID, every citizen would be required to give personal information to the government whether they obtained a driver's license or not. Also, without a federally sanctioned ID card, residents could be denied entrance into government buildings.
    "This would be one-stop shopping for identity thieves," Yohnka said. "Everything would be stored in one place. I even worry about the federal government playing around in a database like that." - Excerpt from an article written by David Mendell and published in the Chicago Tribune, June 7, 2007

Real ID compliance would cost $14 billion

    Defying Uncle Sam, four states have passed laws refusing to comply with federal rules to make state-issued driver's licenses more secure, casting further doubt on the future of the 2005 Real ID Act.
    Although it is rare for states to reject an act of Congress, New Hampshire and Oklahoma in May joined Montana and Washington state in passing statutes this year refusing to go along with Real ID. The refusals mean those states' driver's licenses eventually won't be accepted as official identification when boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings.
    In addition, the Idaho legislature purposely left out any money to comply with the act. The Georgia legislature passed a law giving Gov. Sonny Perdue authority to ignore the measure, but he is hoping the federal government will make the act more affordable, said his spokesman, Bert Brantley.
    Jim Harper of the libertarian Cato Institute, which opposes the driver's license rules, said the states' rejections doom the act to failure. "It's more and more clear that the Real ID system won't work to secure the country," he said. More states are likely to refuse the requirements, creating a nightmare at airports where security screeners will have to distinguish between licenses that are Real ID-compliant and those that aren't, Harper said.
    The state-led revolt is building pressure on Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to change or even rescind the law, which will require states to verify the identity of all 245 million licensed drivers and impose a common set of security features. States have rebelled at the $14 billion in costs the act imposes on states, as well as worries that the new security system will invade residents' privacy and create what amounts to a national ID card.
    On Capitol Hill, two bills would repeal the law, one co-sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. However, an amendment to the immigration bill now being debated in the U.S. Senate would ratchet up the consequences for states that fail to comply with Real ID. The Senate's proposed immigration law would require job applicants to verify their citizenship to employers using a driver's license that meets Real ID standards or with a passport. - Excerpt from an article published in the Monterey County Herald, June 4, 2007.

High noon for Real ID?

    States' anger over the federal Real ID Act -- the federal mandate for states to adopt by 2008 uniform, tamper-proof driver's licenses and ID cards as a hedge against terrorism -- has been on a low simmer ever since Congress passed the provision in 2005. But that simmer has turned to a full boil, with numerous statehouses rolling out bills this year to reject the law over concerns about how much it will cost, who will pay for it and whether it will actually make the country less secure than under the current system.
    To date, at least 22 states have filed bills opposing Real ID (see Bird's eye view in this issue), starting with a non-binding resolution approved last month by the Maine Legislature, a measure meant more to catch Congress's attention than to declare an actual intent not to comply with the federal statute. That is definitely not the case in Montana, however, where the House this month approved a pair of bills (HB 384 and HB 287) that direct the state to disregard Real ID.
    Variations of these proposals -- some binding, some not -- have also advanced in a handful of other states, including Vermong, Wyoming, Washington, and New Mexico.
    That number could grow significantly, according to Missouri Rep. Jim Guest (R), who is working with lawmakers across the country to form a coalition opposing the Real ID Act. Guest believes as many as 35 states will ultimately introduce similar bills, a number he feels would give the movement real power to resist the federal law.
    "We are hopeful that if we get enough states that say they will opt out, Congress will have to take a more realistic look at it," he said.
    Based on the number of issues states currently have with Real ID, a more "realistic" look is going to require a lot of heavy lifting. The Act requires states to obtain multiple forms of identification from driver's license applicants, and to verify that those documents are legitimate and that applicants are in the United States legally. States will also have to develop databases to hold this information, and link them all with one another as well as with an overriding federal database. The licenses themselves would also have to significantly change, with new licenses containing digitized "common machine-readable technology" such as a bar code, RFID chip or magnetic strip.
    Chief among state concerns is the projected cost to implement such a system, which the Act's supporters in Congress peg at about $100 million. But according to a recent survey from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, current licensing requirements and technology vary greatly from state to state, with some systems dating back to the 1960s. And with everyone suddenly required to exchange their current license for the new version, DMV offices could potentially be forced to hire thousands of new employees to handle the increased workload. Nobody can yet say with absolute certainty what the necessary upgrades in technology and personnel will entail, but a report released last September by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) estimates the actual cost to states at more than $11 billion over the program's first five years.
    There are other issues as well, most notably concern over protecting the information contained on the new licen ses. Many privacy advocates believe the lure of a single database from which to mine personal data will be an irresistible draw for identity thieves. The Georgia Senate, for example, recently approved SB 5, which authorizes Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) to delay the Peach State's implementation of the Act until he and lawmakers feel the measure will adequately protect the privacy of any information the new licenses contain.
    Many opponents also fear that the federal government will use such a database to clandestinely keep tabs on just about anyone it chooses. "My primary objection to all of this, even more than the cost, is that the government will be able to track you wherever you go," says Missouri Rep. Guest. "That is a real invasion of privacy, and I'm not sure how you put a dollar value on freedom."
    There could, however, be a fairly significant penalty for people living in states that choose not to go along. In theory, under the Real ID Act anyone without a federally approved driver's license would not be able to get on an airplane, enter a federal building, open a bank account, collect Social Security, or apply for a federal program or a federal job. -- Excerpt from an article written by Rich Ehisen for the State Net Capitol Journal, February 19, 2007.

States challenge national driver's license scheme

    A revolt against a national driver's license, begun in Maine last month, is quickly spreading to other states.
    The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. The federal law sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
    Within a week of Maine's action, lawmakers in Georgia, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington state also balked at Real ID. They are expected soon to pass laws or adopt resolutions declining to participate in the federal identification network.
    "It's the whole privacy thing," said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "A lot of legislators are concerned about privacy issues and the cost. It's an estimated $11 billion implementation cost."
    The law's supporters say it is needed to prevent terrorists and illegal immigrants from getting fake identification cards.
States will have to comply by May 2008. If they do not, driver's licenses that fall short of Real ID's standards cannot be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building or open some bank accounts.
    About a dozen states have active legislation against Real ID, including Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
    Missouri state Rep. James Guest, a Republican, formed a coalition of lawmakers from 34 states to file bills that oppose or protest Real ID.
    "This is almost a frontal assault on the freedoms of America when they require us to carry a national ID to monitor where we are," Guest said in an interview Saturday. "That's going too far."
    Guest filed a resolution last week opposing Real ID and said he expects it quickly to pass the Legislature. "This does nothing to stop terrorism," he said.
"Don't burden the American people with this requirement to carry this ID."
    Though most states oppose the law, some such as Indiana and Maryland are looking to comply with Real ID, Sundeen said.
The issue may be moot for states if Congress takes action.
    Republican Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, along with Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, filed a bill last year to repeal the law. Sununu expects similar legislation will be introduced soon.
    "The federal government should not be in charge of defining and issuing drivers' licenses," Sununu said in a statement.
Privacy advocates say a national driver's license will promote identity theft.
    Barry Steinhardt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Real ID ordered by Congress would require a digital photo and probably a fingerprint on each driver's license or state-issued ID card. That, he said, will make it more valuable to identity thieves because the ID card will be accepted as much more than a driving credential.
    "It's going to be a honey pot out there that's going to be irresistible to identity thieves," Steinhardt said. -- Excerpt from an article written by Leslie Miller and published by The Associated Press Online, Feb. 5, 2007.

New procedures for obtaining an Alabama driver's license

    The following interim procedures have been adopted by the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS) until it can obtain additional guidance from the Department of Homeland Security and its subordinate agencies:

1.  Mail to the Department of Public Safety the name and social security number of each person in advance.
2.  Identify the local driver's license examining station where the person would like to go to apply for an Alabama driver's license.
3.  DPS will call the local driver's license examining station and obtain the name of the driver's license examiner the person should contact.
4.  DPS will inform the person of the name of the driver's license examiner the person is to see on the appointed date and time.
5.  The person should carry with him or her documentation, including his or her unexpired passport, CIS employment authorization (if applicable), Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record, and CIS visa approval notice (if applicable).  Students should provide a copy of Form I-20 or IAP-66.

    You may send notices via fax to:  Captain/Driver's License Division, Alabama Department of Public Safety, (334) 242-0894
    You may send notices via mail to:  Captain/Driver's License Division, Alabama Department of Public Safety, P.O. Box 1511, Montgomery, AL 36012-1511

Contact IAPA

    If you have been denied permission to test for an Alabama driver's license, denied a marriage certificate by an Alabama probate court, or denied any other state license or certificate because you do not have a Social Security number, or you know someone who is having this problem, IAPA wants to hear from you.  Please call us at (334) 832-9090, or send your e-mail to:  CLICK HERE.

It's not just about driver's licenses anymore

    If you would like to read a brief description of what the Social Security Administration's policy regarding Social Security numbers, CLICK HERE.  To read the September 9, 2002, testimony of Kenneth W. Dam, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, on implementation of the PATRIOT Act, CLICK HERE.  In addition, the National Technical Information Service of the Department of Commerce is working with the Social Security Administration to match records and prevent identity fraud in compliance with the PATRIOT Act.  For more information, CLICK HERE.  Please note that clicking on these links will take you away from the International Assistance Project of Alabama's home page.

Background

    Since 1994, IAPA has been working diligently on a problem that, at the time, was almost unique to Alabama.  Foreign nationals lawfully present in Alabama could not get an Alabama driver's license -- and still can't in far too many cases -- even if authorized by Citizenship and Immigration Services to be employed -- because the Social Security Administration would not issue these foreign nationals a social security number.  Since 1997, every applicant for an Alabama driver's license has been required to produce a valid social security number before being allowed to take the driving test.
    On March 1, 2002, the Social Security Administration (SSA) stopped assigning social security numbers to noncitizens where the sole reason for applying for a number was to satisfy a state statute that requires a number to obtain a driver's license or to register a motor vehicle.
    Since March 1, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Social Security Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  A ruling handed down on November 26, 2002, the court held that SSA did not follow comply with the federal Administrative Procedures Act in instituting the new policy.  (Ref. Iyengar v. Barnhart, Civil Action No. 02-0825).  If SSA's policy changes again, it will have to publish the proposed change in the Federal Register.
    In December, 2002, SSA changed its policy in response to the unfavorable ruling in the D.C. lawsuit.  From now on, SSA will issue social security numbers to non-citizens who are not otherwise eligible for social security numbers for the following nonwork purposes:
    * a federal statute or regulation requires that the alien provide his or her social security number to get a particular benefit or service; or
    * a state or local law requires the alien to provide his or her social security number to get general assistance benefits to which the alien has established entitlement; or
    * a state or local law requires the non-citizen to provide his or her social security number to get a driver's license.
    New guidance from SSA follows:
    "Under these circumstances, the application for an SSN must be accompanied by documentation from the appropriate government entity explaining the need for the SSN.  The documentation must be dated and on letterhead stationery. It must specifically identify the non-citizen, the nonwork reason for which an SSN is required, the relevant statute or regulation, and the name and telephone number of an official to contact so that the information provided may be verified. It should state that the non-citizen completed all the requirements to receive the benefit/service except for an SSN."
    SSA will continue to issue social security numbers to foreign nationals who can provide documentary proof that they are lawfully present in the United States and are authorized to be employed.
    In response to passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), a federal statute aimed at securing child-support payments from "deadbeat parents," the Alabama Legislature passed a law in 1997, mandating that state agencies require an applicant for a state license or certificate to provide the applicant's social security number.  The law covers any license, certificate, permit, or other authorization to drive a private or commercial motor vehicle, as well as divorce decrees, support orders, paternity determinations, and marriage licenses.

What the amended Social Security Act requires

    The Social Security Act, as amended -- 42 U.S.C 405 (c)(2)(C)(i) and 49 C.F.R. 383.153 -- authorizes states to record social security numbers on applications for various licenses, in records relating to divorce decrees, child-support orders and paternity determinations or acknowledgements, and in death records and on death certificates -- if the applicant has one.  This Act states:
    "(i)  It is the policy of the United States that any State (or political subdivision thereof) may, in the administration of any tax, general public assistance, driver's license, or motor vehicle registration law within its jurisdiction, utilize the social security account numbers issued by the Commissioner of Social Security for the purpose of establishing the identification of individuals affected by such law, and may require any individual who is or appears to be so affected to furnish to such State (or political subdivision thereof) or any agency thereof having administrative responsibility for the law involved, the social security account number (or numbers, if he has more than one such number) issued to him by the Commissioner of Social Security.
    "(ii) In the administration of any law involving the issuance of a birth certificate, each State shall require each parent to furnish to such State (or political subdivision thereof) or any agency thereof having administrative responsibility for the law involved, the social security account number (or numbers, if the parent has more than one such number) issued to the parent unless the State (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Social Security) finds good cause for not requiring the furnishing of such number.  The State shall make numbers furnished under this subclause available to the Commissioner of Social Security and the agency administering the State's plan under part D of subchapter IV of this chapter in accordance with Federal or State law and regulation.  Such numbers shall not be recorded on the birth certificate.  A State shall not use any social security account number, obtained with respect to the issuance by the State of a birth certificate, for any purpose other than for the enforcement of child support orders in effect in the State, unless section 7(a) of the Privacy Act of 1974 does not prohibit the State from requiring the disclosure of such number, by reason of the State having adopted, before January 1, 1975, a statute or regulation requiring such disclosure."
    49 C.F.R. 383.153 requires that a Social Security number be provided only by applicants for a Commercial Driver's License (CDL).
    The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks demonstrated what can happen when private information appears on public documents such as marriage and driver's licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, etc.  Alabama's local officials are publishing valid social security numbers on thousands -- if not millions -- of public documents.  This is simply foolish and very dangerous, in light of how the September 11 terrorists obtained such information to open their bank accounts in Florida, and must be stopped.

State law exposes Alabamians to identity theft

    Alabama Code, Section 30-3-194, which was enacted in 1997 to comply with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), a federal statute aimed at securing child-support payments from "deadbeat parents."  This federal statute is codified at 49 C.F.R. 383.153 and requires that a Social Security number be provided only by applicants for a Commercial Driver's License (CDL).  Section 30-3-194 requires state and county officials to collect a social security number from all persons applying for any state- or county-issued license, certificate, or permit.  It does not address a situation where an applicant has no social security number.
     Because some state and county officials believe they must collect a Social Security number and publish it on the license, certificate, or permit, valid social security numbers are now sprinkled on a variety of Alabama state- and county-issued licenses, certificates, and permits, which the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now say is very dangerous.  Proliferation of driver's license and Social Security numbers invites misuse by terrorists, identity thieves, and other criminals to gain employment benefits, driver's licenses, credit cards, and to open or drain bank accounts.
    Here is the Act in its entirety. It is published in the Code of Alabama.

Article 9 ALABAMA CHILD SUPPORT REFORM ACT OF 1997

Section 30-3-194.  Issuance or renewal of license, etc.; social security number requirements.

    (a) Any agency charged with the administration of any law concerning the issuance or renewal of a license, certificate, permit, or other authorization to drive a private or commercial motor vehicle or to engage in a profession, occupation, or recreational, sporting, or commercial activity shall require all applicants for issuance or renewal of the license, certificate, permit, or other authorization to provide the applicant's social security number to the agency, which agency shall record the social security number on the application and related records maintained by the agency.
    (b) All divorce decrees, support orders, and paternity determinations issued, and all paternity acknowledgments made, shall include in the records the social security number of each party subject to the decree, order, determination, or acknowledgement. The social security number of each party subject to a divorce shall be included in the divorce certificate filed in the Office of Vital Statistics.
    (c) The social security number of both parties to the marriage shall be collected by those parties issuing a marriage license and shall appear on the license and certificate sent to the Office of Vital Statistics.
    (d) The Office of Vital Statistics shall collect the social security number of the deceased individual and place the number on the death certificate.
    (e) Any agency charged with the duty to record an individual's social security number shall provide the individual's social security number to the state Title IV-D [of the Social Security Act] agency at the agency's request for the purpose of administering the child support program.
    (Acts 1997, No. 97-447, p. 772, §5; Act 99–440, §1.)

Telephone: (334) 832-9090
E-mail:  CLICK HERE

Or contact us via regular mail:

IAPA
P.O. Box 11032
Montgomery, Alabama 36111-0032

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Benefactor membership: $500

Membership fees and charitable contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by federal and state law.  A copy of IAPA's Section 501(c)(3) IRS tax-exempt determination letter is available upon request.