Documenting Americans
A Political History of National ID Card Proposals in the United States

This is the only comprehensive political history of national ID card proposals and identity policing developments in the United States.

Magdalena Krajewska (Author)

9781316649480, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 January 2020

301 pages
23 x 15 x 1.9 cm, 0.35 kg

'Krajewska offers a comprehensive account of the history of identification documents in the modern United States, showing not only how Americans have argued about identification documents, but also how such documents have been used to police citizens and immigrants alike. In a historical moment of mounting anti-immigrant sentiment, this book is essential reading.' Kunal Parker, author of Making Foreigners

This is the first and only comprehensive, book-length political history of national ID card proposals and developments in identity policing in the United States. The book focuses on the period from 1915 to 2016, including the post-9/11 debates and policy decisions regarding the introduction of technologically-advanced identification documents. Putting the United States in comparative perspective and connecting the vital issues of immigration and homeland security, Magdalena Krajewska shows how national ID card proposals have been woven into political conflict across a variety of policy fields. Findings contradict conventional wisdom, debunking two common myths: that Americans are opposed to national ID cards and that American policymakers never propose national ID cards. Dr Krajewska draws on extensive archival research; high-level interviews with politicians, policymakers, and ID card technology experts in Washington, DC and London; and public opinion polls.

Introduction
1. Identification documents and the book's findings: an overview
2. Identification documents in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century
3. Identification documents in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century
4. Identity policing in the post-9/11 United States: the changing patchwork
5. Identity policing in the post-9/11 united states: drivers and obstacles
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Immigration law [LNDA1], Citizenship & nationality law [LNDA], Migration, immigration & emigration [JFFN]