Margarita Villegas still weeps when she thinks about being pulled over by an Alameda police officer four years ago for running a red light.
She was distraught that her lack of identification meant her car would be impounded and she herself jailed - separated from her crying 6-year-old daughter.
But, the officer allowed her to call her husband, a legal resident, to come identify Villegas and take the car. She didn't go to jail, but her fear remains.
"I want to be able to show that my name is Margarita Villegas," she said in Spanish.
Villegas, 49, will soon get a chance because of the city she's lived in for 20 years: Oakland.
Starting this year, the city will begin issuing municipal identification cards to help residents without legal immigration status. Such cards are critical for tasks that range from the urgent, like an interaction with police, to the everyday, like cashing a check.
She was distraught that her lack of identification meant her car would be impounded and she herself jailed - separated from her crying 6-year-old daughter.
But, the officer allowed her to call her husband, a legal resident, to come identify Villegas and take the car. She didn't go to jail, but her fear remains.
"I want to be able to show that my name is Margarita Villegas," she said in Spanish.
Villegas, 49, will soon get a chance because of the city she's lived in for 20 years: Oakland.
Starting this year, the city will begin issuing municipal identification cards to help residents without legal immigration status. Such cards are critical for tasks that range from the urgent, like an interaction with police, to the everyday, like cashing a check.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have a comment regarding the post above, please feel free to leave it here.