SWOPblogger

This is great. I recommend you read the entire article, but better yet, read the comments at the end. Bottom line there is still hate in the air, but it's good to know change happens in light of it.

I know there will be challenges to this ID program, but what I like about it, is that its for everyone in the city. Who knows how many people who aren't undocumented will use it. Let's hope its many so that others don't get singled out.

********************************************

City ID Plan Approved
by Melissa Bailey |

Calling it a move towards "social justice," aldermen overwhelmingly approved a plan to issue identification cards for all city residents regardless of immigration status. Click on the play arrow to watch the emphatic applause for the plan, the first of its kind in the nation.

The so-called Elm City Resident Card has drawn boiling condemnation from outsider activists but overwhelming support inside city limits -- click here, here and here for background on the card, introduced by Mayor DeStefano.

In a 25 to 1 vote Monday, aldermen approved acceptance of $250,359 in private funds from the First City Fund Corporation to support the mayor's plan. The Elm City Resident Card, originally designed to help undocumented immigrants avoid getting robbed or assaulted, will be a combination of identification, debit card, library card, and a way to pay the parking meter, for all city residents young and old. The city plans to roll out the new cards in July.

Read the rest of the article here: New Haven Independent