Verifying Immigration Documents/Status
Figure 3 shows that as of February 2012, 47 states have memoranda of agreements (MOAs) in existence with USCIS for access to the SAVE system. SAVE is used to verify immigration status that determines eligibility for state and federal benefits in other contexts, and in the REAL ID context, assists in fulfilling the requirement to
265 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress, 15.
verify DHS documents, which in turn, demonstrate the immigration status of the individual.266
Figure 3. States with SAVE Memoranda of Agreement267
States do pay a fee to access SAVE through memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with SAVE (via USCIS), but for a two-year period, a pilot project was being launched to allow states to access SAVE via AAMVAnet for them to integrate SAVE into their frontline operations.268 During that time, funding operations and maintenance of the system would be handled by the State of Mississippi, which is being done to incorporate SAVE into the state operations to make the verification process smoother for
266 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress, 21. Since SAVE can address and verify only information related to U.S. citizens who possess DHS documents, such as certificates of naturalization, efforts are underway for USCIS to develop and pilot test a service that would verify U.S. passports to provide a conduit through USCIS to information
maintained by the Department of State, which is responsible for passport issuance.
267 Ibid.
268 Ibid.
the states. USCIS is assisting in developing a way to allow states to access SAVE through the AAMVAnet communications network.269
Verifying Social Security Numbers
AAMVA developed what is known as the SSOLV system, under the authority of the SSA, to support real-time verification of SSNs.270 As shown in Figure 4, all 50 states and the District of Columbia require that SSNs be verified and use SSOLV. Two states were added since the publication of the REAL ID regulations, and the regulations extended the requirement for verification to the territories. Efforts are underway to extend access to the SSOLV system through AAMVAnet.271
Figure 4. Verification of Social Security Numbers272
269 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress.
270 Ibid., 19.
271 Ibid., 19–20.
272 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress, 20.
Verifying State Birth Certificates
The ability to verify state birth certificates is key to the success of REAL ID. It also poses some of the most difficult challenges due to the inability to access electronic copies of records, and the poor quality of such records. For this reason, DHS has paid particular attention to this issue and has funded projects to improve access to such records.273 It has been recognized that the issuance of driver’s licenses has depended on the weak link of “breeder” or “seed” documents. The birth certificate, in particular, is often the least reliable document “because agencies have not kept consistent records and because the documents take so many different forms.”274 NAPHSIS supports states in verifying state vital records through a system known as EVVE application, which is most easily accessed by state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs) though the AAMVA network. Consequently, DHS is providing funding for projects to improve the accessibility of such records, improve the quality of the records, and correct errors in the data. As shown in Figure 5, the use of EVVE is widespread and growing.275 EVVE allows the states (and other entities, such as the federal government) to connect to EVVE to include digitized vital record checks into their identity verification processes.
Technically, the states are not required to conduct such checks, and can claim compliance with the required security benchmarks of REAL ID, without them, but the intent of the federal government is that EVVE be used for that purpose. As a result, it has been funding the installation of EVVE to facilitate access by the states. Under REAL ID, $3.8 million in funding was provided for this purpose.276 Part of the process for the states involves digitizing older records and cleaning up existing records.277 As a result of REAL ID, digitized identity verification through EVVE, as of December 2013, is used by
273 Ibid., 22.
274 Kelly Gates, “The United States REAL ID Act and the Securitization of Identity,” in Playing the Identity Card Surveillance, Security and Identification in Global Perspective, ed. Colin J Bennett and David Lyon (London; New York: Routledge, 2008), 227.
275 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress, 23.
276 Center for Immigration Studies, “Update on Digitization of Vital Records,” accessed February 5, 2014, http://cis.org/kephart/evve-update.
277 Ibid.
50 states and territories, with two additional jurisdictions in progress (Maine and Puerto Rico).278
Figure 5. EVVE Implementation—December 2013279
A significant increase occurred from the implementation status as of June 2012, contained in the DHS state progress update, which showed that 43 states and territories were online, six were in progress, and eight had yet to begin any implementation.280 (See Appendix B.)
However, five states (New York, Texas, Washington, Idaho, and New Hampshire) have not yet accessed vital records through EVVE, which represents a
278 NAPHSIS, “EVVE,” accessed February 5, 2014, http://www.naphsis.org/Pages/EVVE.aspx.
279 NAPHSIS, “EVVE.”
280 Department of Homeland Security, Secure Identification State Progress: Fiscal Year 2012 Report to Congress, 23.
substantial number of driver’s licenses and state identification documents.281 This tool has seen a substantial increase in use among states and territories since the creation of the EVVE office 2005. As recently as February 2011, only 28 states were online with the EVVE system.282
An additional digitization effort that would identify additional fraud involves linking digitized birth and death records in the system. It has been estimated that the cost to do so would be approximately $102 million.283 One area of opportunity for the federal government to assist states would be to pursue funding for such efforts. The IRTPA’s Section 7211 authorized federal grant programs that would help states to “meet federal standards.” Although the authorization to appropriate funds ran out in 2009, it would be worthwhile to pursue the reauthorization of such grants, and seek appropriations to fund the grants.284