How The Real ID Act is creating a new class of homeless
Very often we pass the homeless guy (or gal) on the street and dont think a whole lot about why they are there... I, personally have a bit of insight as to why an alarming number of them are there due to the fact that very often I sit down at the docks and buy them food or wine and listen to their stories (no I do not give them cash except in very rare instances where I A: have it and B: know they are actually trying).
I have noticed in listening that a horror story is unfolding here in America. The title is 'The real ID Act' Now for people like me who know how to keep a cash business going ( I fix motorcycles) it is not a problem that there never was a birth certificate nor is there a certificate of baptism on my Jewish self... But when people come to me to have their motorcycles serviced I tend to only accept cash, guns or other motorcycles as payment so I'm not worried for the time being... I thought deeply about this as I plopped my Uniformed Services ID card, about to expire license and 4 other forms of ID on the counter to renew my drivers license yesterday...
For the average person ... Since 1986 it has been a law that you have to have a Social Security card and 2 forms of ID just to get a job here in the USA. Based on what I have seen/heard firsthand that law in itself has caused many Americans to not be able to work or maintain gainful employment unless it is for a boss/employer willing to pay cash. Why? Because there are over 2 million Americans, born right here in the USA that were born in houses, cars, campgrounds, trailer parks etc... That do not have a birth certificate - nor are their school records acceptable as a valid form of identification which would allow them to work.
Just to pick one case alone (we'll call him X) X does have a birth certificate - or at least a copy of it which is no longer acceptable as a form of ID to get a replacement Social Security card which he needs to legally work in the USA. Well (and I verified this) X had lost his job not long after losing his wallet. That left X unable to get a job anywhere in the USA legally. So I let him use my address to get an original of his birth certificate - even paid for it out of my pocket and his military records. This process took a total of 9 weeks (during which time he was living by some local docks in the Mangroves). Now that was just to get enough ID to get a copy of his social security card. - They (the Social Security office) did give him a receipt saying what his SS number was and that he had re-applied so he was then able to spend another week applying for and finally getting a job. Getting the money for an apartment took him a couple more months but he is no longer homeless - total time living on the streets for him was about 6 months and I doubt very many other people in this day and age would have allowed him to use their address to receive enough mail to get their ID straightened out. Now that is just one of 7 or 8 people I have helped like that over the years - one lady had been on the streets for close to a year before she got her ID straightened out (and she didn't look good enough to be turning tricks for cash either).
Enter The real ID act:
I am now seeing more and more homeless people who have absolutely NO hope of getting enough ID to get a picture ID after they have gotten their BC and SS card back - Yet a picture ID is one of the requirements to work here in the USA. I am seeing MANY homeless people who spent 60 or 90 days in jail on some petty charge and quite a few ex-convicts that had been in for actual felonies who are unable to work because generally even with a prison system release ID they do not have enough ID to get work legally nor do they have a place to get their paperwork to get an ID sent to... Plus now just to get a state issued picture ID you are required to have 6 forms of ID - Yet you have to have a picture ID to be allowed to legally work.
In the past several months I have seen probably 40 homeless people in this situation and believe it or not less than 5 or so of them had any criminal past. These are normal, average people who had jobs and weren't worried about getting their ID straightened out until it was too late, they lost their jobs for whatever reason and had no way to obtain the paperwork to get their ID straightened out. They ended out homeless as a result. Thankfully this is Florida I live in and I pointed several of them to fruit growers that still pay cash and Mexican sheetrock crews that also pay cash - yet many of them are unable (physically) to do that kind of work - many of them try but due to malnutrition or not being built for that kind of work to begin with ....only last a couple of days but at least they are able to eat good for a few days and try again...
Since the enactment of the 'Real ID Act' here in Florida the 'Work Corners' {Where folks wanting basic day labor work in exchange for cash green money} have gone from not just Mexicans and other illegals to mostly Caucasians and Blacks who cannot legally work any other way because they dont have (and very often cannot get) enough ID to get a normal job. Thankfully the homeless share information on where the 'work corners' are However - the vast majority of them are not from the areas they are in and unless they are lucky enough for someone to point out such a place - They more often than not go hungry and homeless for a very long time.
I have met many guys/gals who had a place to live, their girlfriends/boyfriends threw them out for whatever reason and they cannot even get work at the temporary labor places due to laws preventing them from doing so here in the USA.
I think it is a shame that: We, as Americans have allowed our government to enact such laws that put basically good folks in a situation where they are not even allowed to work. Of the homeless people I talk to - i would say that almost 25 percent at least are there because our government made some laws which are senseless. Those laws are punishing innocent Americans and I hope that one day they will be abolished/repealed. I believe it should be EVERY Americans right to be employed whether they have ID or not. Hell if someones blonde haired, blue eyed and speaks with a Southern (or yankee) accent - That should be enough for them to get work in America... I firmly believe the government has overstepped their bounds
I have noticed in listening that a horror story is unfolding here in America. The title is 'The real ID Act' Now for people like me who know how to keep a cash business going ( I fix motorcycles) it is not a problem that there never was a birth certificate nor is there a certificate of baptism on my Jewish self... But when people come to me to have their motorcycles serviced I tend to only accept cash, guns or other motorcycles as payment so I'm not worried for the time being... I thought deeply about this as I plopped my Uniformed Services ID card, about to expire license and 4 other forms of ID on the counter to renew my drivers license yesterday...
For the average person ... Since 1986 it has been a law that you have to have a Social Security card and 2 forms of ID just to get a job here in the USA. Based on what I have seen/heard firsthand that law in itself has caused many Americans to not be able to work or maintain gainful employment unless it is for a boss/employer willing to pay cash. Why? Because there are over 2 million Americans, born right here in the USA that were born in houses, cars, campgrounds, trailer parks etc... That do not have a birth certificate - nor are their school records acceptable as a valid form of identification which would allow them to work.
Just to pick one case alone (we'll call him X) X does have a birth certificate - or at least a copy of it which is no longer acceptable as a form of ID to get a replacement Social Security card which he needs to legally work in the USA. Well (and I verified this) X had lost his job not long after losing his wallet. That left X unable to get a job anywhere in the USA legally. So I let him use my address to get an original of his birth certificate - even paid for it out of my pocket and his military records. This process took a total of 9 weeks (during which time he was living by some local docks in the Mangroves). Now that was just to get enough ID to get a copy of his social security card. - They (the Social Security office) did give him a receipt saying what his SS number was and that he had re-applied so he was then able to spend another week applying for and finally getting a job. Getting the money for an apartment took him a couple more months but he is no longer homeless - total time living on the streets for him was about 6 months and I doubt very many other people in this day and age would have allowed him to use their address to receive enough mail to get their ID straightened out. Now that is just one of 7 or 8 people I have helped like that over the years - one lady had been on the streets for close to a year before she got her ID straightened out (and she didn't look good enough to be turning tricks for cash either).
Enter The real ID act:
I am now seeing more and more homeless people who have absolutely NO hope of getting enough ID to get a picture ID after they have gotten their BC and SS card back - Yet a picture ID is one of the requirements to work here in the USA. I am seeing MANY homeless people who spent 60 or 90 days in jail on some petty charge and quite a few ex-convicts that had been in for actual felonies who are unable to work because generally even with a prison system release ID they do not have enough ID to get work legally nor do they have a place to get their paperwork to get an ID sent to... Plus now just to get a state issued picture ID you are required to have 6 forms of ID - Yet you have to have a picture ID to be allowed to legally work.
In the past several months I have seen probably 40 homeless people in this situation and believe it or not less than 5 or so of them had any criminal past. These are normal, average people who had jobs and weren't worried about getting their ID straightened out until it was too late, they lost their jobs for whatever reason and had no way to obtain the paperwork to get their ID straightened out. They ended out homeless as a result. Thankfully this is Florida I live in and I pointed several of them to fruit growers that still pay cash and Mexican sheetrock crews that also pay cash - yet many of them are unable (physically) to do that kind of work - many of them try but due to malnutrition or not being built for that kind of work to begin with ....only last a couple of days but at least they are able to eat good for a few days and try again...
Since the enactment of the 'Real ID Act' here in Florida the 'Work Corners' {Where folks wanting basic day labor work in exchange for cash green money} have gone from not just Mexicans and other illegals to mostly Caucasians and Blacks who cannot legally work any other way because they dont have (and very often cannot get) enough ID to get a normal job. Thankfully the homeless share information on where the 'work corners' are However - the vast majority of them are not from the areas they are in and unless they are lucky enough for someone to point out such a place - They more often than not go hungry and homeless for a very long time.
I have met many guys/gals who had a place to live, their girlfriends/boyfriends threw them out for whatever reason and they cannot even get work at the temporary labor places due to laws preventing them from doing so here in the USA.
I think it is a shame that: We, as Americans have allowed our government to enact such laws that put basically good folks in a situation where they are not even allowed to work. Of the homeless people I talk to - i would say that almost 25 percent at least are there because our government made some laws which are senseless. Those laws are punishing innocent Americans and I hope that one day they will be abolished/repealed. I believe it should be EVERY Americans right to be employed whether they have ID or not. Hell if someones blonde haired, blue eyed and speaks with a Southern (or yankee) accent - That should be enough for them to get work in America... I firmly believe the government has overstepped their bounds
Comments