About 325,000 Californians who already got their REAL IDs now need new ones because of a Department of Motor Vehicles error. The DMV said the expiration dates may be wrong on REAL IDs that it issued to immigrants with lawful presence in the U.S. The issue first came to light when the DMV sent out a news release at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.In the two weeks since, KCRA 3 Investigates has been asking questions and requesting an on-camera interview. On Tuesday, Jan. 6, DMV Deputy Director of Communications Eva Spiegel said she would get back to KCRA about whether someone would be made available to discuss this.This week, the DMV did not respond at all to emails and phone calls from KCRA regarding the status of the interview request.The DMV has said that a 2006 coding error is what caused REAL IDs to be issued to immigrants with incorrect expiration dates. Immigrants in the U.S. legally, including with green cards or visas, can get REAL IDs under federal guidelines, but the expiration date on those IDs has to align with the time of their authorized stay.That is where things appear to have gone wrong, so some IDs may show that they are valid even after a person’s legal status as a resident expires. The DMV is notifying those who are impacted and re-issuing new IDs that comply with federal regulations. The DMV said it discovered this error because of a “self-initiated, proactive review of its data systems” this winter. The agency specifically emphasized in its news release that federal authorities did not uncover this problem. However, this follows two deadly crashes last year that made national headlines, one in August and one in October. They both involved immigrant truck drivers with commercial licenses in California.Those cases sparked criticism from the Trump administration, which then launched an audit.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said its audit in the fall identified problems with truckers and bus drivers who had licenses that showed they were valid long after their visas were set to expire.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
About 325,000 Californians who already got their REAL IDs now need new ones because of a Department of Motor Vehicles error.
The DMV said the expiration dates may be wrong on REAL IDs that it issued to immigrants with lawful presence in the U.S.
The issue first came to light when the DMV sent out a news release at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
In the two weeks since, KCRA 3 Investigates has been asking questions and requesting an on-camera interview.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, DMV Deputy Director of Communications Eva Spiegel said she would get back to KCRA about whether someone would be made available to discuss this.
This week, the DMV did not respond at all to emails and phone calls from KCRA regarding the status of the interview request.
The DMV has said that a 2006 coding error is what caused REAL IDs to be issued to immigrants with incorrect expiration dates.
Immigrants in the U.S. legally, including with green cards or visas, can get REAL IDs under federal guidelines, but the expiration date on those IDs has to align with the time of their authorized stay.
That is where things appear to have gone wrong, so some IDs may show that they are valid even after a person’s legal status as a resident expires.
The DMV is notifying those who are impacted and re-issuing new IDs that comply with federal regulations.
The DMV said it discovered this error because of a “self-initiated, proactive review of its data systems” this winter. The agency specifically emphasized in its news release that federal authorities did not uncover this problem.
However, this follows two deadly crashes last year that made national headlines, one in August and one in October. They both involved immigrant truck drivers with commercial licenses in California.
Those cases sparked criticism from the Trump administration, which then launched an audit.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said its audit in the fall identified problems with truckers and bus drivers who had licenses that showed they were valid long after their visas were set to expire.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel