Hundreds wait for hours to buy S.F. ID card

California
Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards regardless of their immigration status.

San Francisco officials hailed the cards as a way to connect undocumented immigrants with banks, businesses and city services.

"I really need the identification card," said Marvin Martinez, who arrived in the city five months ago from Florida and is originally from Mexico. Martinez stood in a long line - one made up mostly of Latino men - that snaked down the marble hallway outside the county clerk's office.

The cards have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally.

The Immigration Reform Law Institute of Washington sued to block the cards on behalf of four San Francisco residents who said the program would aid illegal immigration. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch tossed the suit in October.

[So I guess that San Jose may now arrest and deport immigrants holding green cards if it chooses to do so. Yes I know they're supposed to give them legal status per federal law, but since that's just a guideline...

It's the Rule of Law, stupid: change it or live with it {like the rest of us}]

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