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The City of New Haven, CT, sought to promote the assimilation of its immigrants by becoming the first American city to provide a government-backed ID, the Elm City Resident Card, to all residents. This article tests the policy's effectiveness in commerce. We find that Hispanics/Latinos are asked to present an ID more than Whites/Anglos, showing that the former are in greater need of documentation, regardless of their citizenship status. When a Hispanic/Latino presented the Elm City Resident Card to a cashier, it fared only as well as an unofficial ID. Thus, we conclude that the card has negligible utility as a form of documentation. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

The City of New Haven, CT, sought to promote the assimilation of its immigrants by becoming the first American city to provide a government-backed ID, the Elm City Resident Card, to all residents. This article tests the policy's effectiveness in commerce. We find that Hispanics/Latinos are asked to present an ID more than Whites/Anglos, showing that the former are in greater need of documentation, regardless of their citizenship status. When a Hispanic/Latino presented the Elm City Resident Card to a cashier, it fared only as well as an unofficial ID. Thus, we conclude that the card has negligible utility as a form of documentation., Article: In May 2007, the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill failed to garner the necessary votes to pass in Congress. The bill would have bolstered border security, placed the [...]