First of all, an ID doesn't need to have anything to do with citizenship. It can also be a claim of residence like a driver's license in the US.
Second, if people are eligible for benefits, they are clearly being recorded in some fashion. If the benefit requires permanent residence in the US, I would presume most states are attempting to verify this as well.
In either case, this can be used for either a residence ID or a stronger ID that proves citizenship or immigration status, the latter resembling the national ID cards that many EU countries (among other places) have.
USA is set to require a passport or state-issued Enhanced ID [0] for domestic airline travel this year. It's about as close to a "national ID card" as it can get.
>First of all, an ID doesn't need to have anything to do with citizenship
Here is the comment further up that this comment is in the context of:
>It amazes me that there is no authentication provided by governments in the US to citizens.
Do you see why we are talking about citizenship now? Especially when much of the discussion is revolving around voting as well, which does require a certain citizenship status.
The discussion was about unemployment benefits, which in most every case is not limited to US citizens. I believe that when the person who you quoted used the term "citizens," they meant it in a looser sense to refer to people eligible for unemployment benefits, which is what I responded to. Citizenship is also not sufficient proof to receive benefits, so I'm unclear why we're trying to add another confounding factor when states already have a (less than comprehensive) system for tracking residency that can be adapted.
You can get an ID without a birth certificate, many people do. And it has nothing to do with minorities; a large percentage of people without birth certificates are white.
Or social security numbers. Or tax returns. Or proof of address. Or... basically anything that can reasonably indicate that they are who they say they are.
Second, if people are eligible for benefits, they are clearly being recorded in some fashion. If the benefit requires permanent residence in the US, I would presume most states are attempting to verify this as well.
In either case, this can be used for either a residence ID or a stronger ID that proves citizenship or immigration status, the latter resembling the national ID cards that many EU countries (among other places) have.