San Francisco began issuing ID cards last week. These are valid identification that can be used to obtain bank accounts, check books out of the library and, most importantly, help us to avoid arrest for lack of ID. For immigrants, it has another effect: reducing their fear of calling police when they are victims of crime.

San Francisco is home to the only Credit Union which will issue bank accounts to people without a social security number, Northeast Community Federal Credit Union. NECFCU is utilized by many people who otherwise might not have access to any financial institution. Identification is the only requirement for an account.

San Francisco Library is a wonderful resource for training materials, books, CDs, music and movies. The only requirement for access is identification.

San Francisco is the one city in the country where you may be arrested simply for not having ID. You might be walking on the street minding your own business and the police can walk up and ask you to identify yourself. If you do not have a way of proving you are who you say you are, they have the option to take you downtown. All that is required to avoid this is identification.

For these reasons, and many more, the City has decided to issue identification cards to everyone who can show a birth certificate (or passport) and a utility bill or other proof that they reside in the city. We think this is a very good policy, independent of the immigration issues.

Immigration is a hot topic, and is likely to be so for a long time. Our understanding of the law is that the term 'illegal immigrant' is a misnomer. Granted that it is not legal to cross the border into the United States without permission. But once here, the illegals become 'undocumented aliens' and are not breaking any laws by their mere presence. It is when they attempt to work, forge social security numbers or commit crimes that they become subject to law enforcement. There are many undocumented aliens who do none of those things.

This begs the question of how to best manage social policy. Do we really want to discourage able-bodied people from working? That they are here is a given. This writer would argue that we should consider establishing a way for them to be productive.

For more information about the San Francisco ID card program, here is a link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle: