Stu Bykofsky: Illegals Could Use New ID To Vote
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez has proposed a municipal ID that could be used by people who have no other identification, including undocumented residents. Critics of the proposal, like Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News, suspect the new ID will be abused.
During the Rich Zeoli Show on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Bykofsky criticized Mayor Jim Kenney, who championed the bill and said it will bring people out of the shadows.
"Who's in the shadows? Not Philadelphians. People here illegally. They're the ones. It's just a tacit admission that this is going to be used by people here illegally. I also wanted to know, since the legislation calls for it to be observed by all city agencies, I want to know if it can be used as proper ID to register and vote. The legislation does not prohibit that. Since all city agencies would be required to honor it, it seems to me that anybody carrying it could use it for identification to register to vote, meaning, you're here illegally, you're not a citizen and you'll be able to vote in Philadelphia."
He questions the data used by the Councilwoman to justify the issuance of the ID's.
"It was introduced by a Councilwoman, Maria Quinones-Sanchez. It's been introduced before. But she talks about these hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians who have no ID...I would like to know who these hundreds of thousands of people are. How could she substantiate that figure? Because I could not. Neither could the census bureau."
Bykofsky claims this will only aid people that are here illegally, and also pointed out he is not allowed to write the word 'illegal' in his columns.
"When you strip away the bull feathers and the fairy dust, this is intended to benefit illegals, which is, incidentally, a word I am not allowed to use in the Daily News. I have to say undocumented people. I am not allowed to use it. This battle has been going here for, like, seven years. Finally, I think last year, the Associated Press, we use their Style Book, and the Associated Press banned it, and therefore, it cannot be used in any paper that uses the AP Style Book."