ID requirements exist to purposely disadvantage 'marginalized communities' academics argue

Panelists at a University of Michigan (UM) event suggested ill intent behind government-issued identification (ID) requirements. 

UM’s School of Social Work hosted the Apr. 6 event, “Exclusion by Design,” to examine how these requirements “were … adopted to prevent those without a government-issued ID from accessing an array of basic resources and services,” according to its description. 

Panelists also claimed that, for lawmakers and law enforcement, ID requirements are means to disenfranchise, refuse to serve, or incarcerate those “from marginalized communities.”

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Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, a UM lecturer and city councilwoman, and Maria G. Ibarra-Frayre, a UM research assistant and activist for immigrant rights, served on the panel.  

The panel, according to the event description, also included Keta Cowan, an attorney and Chair of the Washtenaw County ID Task Force, “a public/private partnership” that helps residents obtain county-issued IDs. 

In the recording, Ghazi Edwin says that voter ID laws “were purposefully implemented because they disenfranchise the black and brown vote.” She continues to argue that ID laws stem from “hysteria” over undocumented immigrant voter fraud. 

Ghazi Edwin later describes IDs “as an excuse” for incarceration and deportation, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will deport undocumented immigrants if police officers conduct a traffic stop and find them without valid IDs. 

Cowan similarly alleges a discriminatory impact of ID requirements, arguing that IDs serve as grounds for banks and other businesses to refuse to serve certain customers. 

“The discriminatory act is that old fashioned, ‘We will pretend you do not exist and not serve you,’” Cowan says.

Ibarra-Frayre connects ID laws to a national trend, “particularly after 9/11 where there was so much Islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment.”

“The pendulum is swinging on the opposite as we are realizing this is ridiculous, and it doesn’t make sense,” she continues. “But also, there is a really big fear particularly now because of all the things that are coming from Florida,” calling the state’s recent legislative agenda “very terrifying.” 

Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a proposal in Feb. 2023 to “lead the way in protecting Americans from the deleterious effects of the Left’s open borders agenda,” according to his office’s press release. The proposal requires that employers check employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S. through E-Verify. To curb illegal immigration, the proposal also “[p]rohibits local governments from issuing ID cards to unauthorized aliens.” 

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“Human smuggling, drug trafficking, and a host of other criminal activities are steadily spilling across the Southern Border and into our state,” the press release says, quoting Fla. Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass. 

“In tandem with our continued vigilance and cooperation with our law enforcement partners across the state, the initiatives championed today by Governor DeSantis will help to keep Floridians safer than ever.”

Campus Reform contacted all relevant parties listed for comment and will update this article accordingly.