The College Fix

Arizona may have recently come under national scrutiny for passing a law cracking down on illegal immigration, but an initiative in Princeton that has the opposite effect has attracted its own share of controversy.

Last May, Princeton Borough and Princeton Township agreed to accept community identification cards issued by the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nonprofit organization with an office in Princeton, to people without documented proof of legal immigration. All that is required to receive a card are a passport or consular documents from another country and proof of residency, such as utility bills.

Around 500 community identification cards have been issued since May, said sociology professor and LALDEF trustee Patricia Fernandez-Kelly.

Though the card is not a form of official government identification, various public and private entities have agreed to accept the identification card, including the Trenton and Princeton police departments, the Mercer County prosecutor’s office and sheriff’s office, and several local schools and clinics. The cards cost $10 for adults and $5 for minors.

“The police don’t like the problems caused by an invisible and vulnerable population,” Fernandez-Kelly said. Without the cards, she added, health care for illegal immigrants becomes almost impossible.

Community groups “don’t want sick people with or without documents in the streets,” she explained.

In addition to health care, other basic services will now be accessible for holders of community identification cards.

Read the full story at the Daily Princetonian.

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