As protests against ICE and the separation of immigrant families continue across the country and calls to #AbolishICE go mainstream, it’s not always clear what policy can be done at the local level to support the undocumented.

That’s where municipal IDs come in.

On Monday, the City of Poughkeepsie Common Council unanimously passed a law to create a municipal ID.

The vote follows months of advocacy for the legislation by Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, a member-led immigrant rights and social justice organization based in Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties, in collaboration with members of the City Council and Poughkeepsie community. 

The IDs will be available to all city residents and will be particularly valuable for the city’s most vulnerable community members: undocumented immigrants, as well as the homeless, transgender people, youth, the elderly, the formerly incarcerated, and others who may have difficulty obtaining other government-issued ID.

Read the entire story featuring Resist grantee Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson