Proposal would bar police from accepting nonprofit ID cards

By ANNA GRONEWOLD
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Some North Carolina lawmakers are trying to remove an exemption in an immigration law last year that allows law enforcement to use identification cards from local government or nonprofit organizations to determine a person’s ID or residency.

The House Regulatory Reform Committee sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

A law passed last September prohibiting the use of the cards in most cases, but local nonprofits have continued hosting ID drives encouraging people to obtain them.

The bill’s sponsors say the cards carry no validity and what was meant to be a narrow exemption expanded their use.

Doug Miskew of the North Carolina Sheriffs Association opposed the bill and said the cards allow officers to communicate with individuals who do not have other identifying documents.

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