IDNYC is New York City's ID card program, and it has served as a critical means for undocumented migrants to get identity papers that they can use to establish utilities accounts, bank accounts, and so on. The city has announced a change to the program's data-retention policy, vowing to purge information that might be useful in the mass deportations promised by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.
Republican Assemblymembers Nicole Malliotakis and Ron Castorina have secured a court injunction temporarily banning the deletion of existing records while they sue the city to force it to retain that data for use by Trump's promised "door to door deportation squads."
"The IDNYC program will be transitioning to a policy that does not involve the retention of cardholders' personal background documents. During this transition, New Yorkers are encouraged to continue to call 311 and make an appointment to begin the pre-application process that remains in place. We expect to begin processing complete applications under the new policy in January."
City Will No Longer Keep Personal Data of IDNYC Applicants [Rebeca Ibarra/WNYC]
Statement from Mayoral Spokesperson Rosemary Boeglin and Council Spokesperson Robin Levine on Update to IDNYC Record Retention Policy
NYC will stop retaining data that could identify immigrants under Trump administration
[Colin Lecher/The Verge]
(Image: The devastation after the March 27th 1943 attack on the Muncipal Register in Amsterdam)
