Cached at:
06/28/26, 04:58 PM
# California legislature agrees to upload driver’s licenses to national database – Papers, Please!
Source: [https://papersplease.org/wp/2026/06/27/california-legislature-agrees-to-upload-drivers-licenses-to-national-database/](https://papersplease.org/wp/2026/06/27/california-legislature-agrees-to-upload-drivers-licenses-to-national-database/)
Jun272026
Withdrawing its[opposition](https://papersplease.org/wp/2026/06/15/california-legislature-removes-real-id-compliance-from-governors-budget/)under behind\-the\-scenes pressure from Gov\. Gavin Newsom and lawless threats from the US Department of Homeland Security \(DHS\), the California legislature has[agreed](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/budget-act-of-2026-summary-final.pdf#page=14)to fund and[revise state law](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/june-29-2026-hearing-agenda-senate-budget.pdf#page=44)to authorize the upload of information about all driver’s licenses and ID cards issued by the state to the private[SPEXS](https://papersplease.org/wp/2016/02/11/how-the-real-id-act-is-creating-a-national-id-database/)national ID database operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators \(AAMVA\)\.
The budget compromise between Gov\. Newsom and the legislature[announced](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/budget-act-of-2026-summary-final.pdf#page=14)last night includes “[guardrails](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/june-29-2026-hearing-agenda-senate-budget.pdf#page=44)” intended to give an illusion of protection for license and ID data\.
There’s no time before the[hearing](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/june-29-2026-hearing-agenda-senate-budget.pdf#page=44)on the budget compromise scheduled for Monday morning in the[Senate Budget Committee](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/)for legislators to assess whether those guardrails will be effective\. But to anyone aware of the real threat, it’s apparent that they are a sham\.
That was inevitable, as we’ve pointed out in our previous[statements](https://papersplease.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IDP-SPEXS-S2S-26MAY2026.pdf)to the legislature\.
Once this data is transferred to AAMVA, components of the DHS or other Federal or state law enforcement agencies will be able to obtain it from AAMVA by court order\. Such a subpoena or warrant could, and probably would, include a gag order prohibiting AAMVA from disclosing it to the state of California or to the individuals whose data is disclosed\.
Even after the fact, neither California nor individual Californians will know that this has happened or be able to challenge it\.
That data could be misused in many ways, but it’s especially likely be[weaponized](https://papersplease.org/wp/2026/05/21/immigrant-and-human-rights-groups-call-for-california-not-to-upload-drivers-license-data-to-national-id-database/)against[immigrant and transgende](https://www.kalw.org/bay-area-news/2026-06-04/trans-and-immigrant-advocates-are-pushing-back-against-dmv-data-sharing)Californians who are already being targeted by Federal agencies and other states\.
The[summary](https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2026-06/june-29-2026-hearing-agenda-senate-budget.pdf#page=44)of the proposed “budget trailer” bill released last night says that it “Limits data sharing to only that required by federal law\.” But that’s not true\. “Compliance” with the REAL\-ID by California or any other state is optional, not required\. Neither the Federal[REAL\-ID Act](https://papersplease.org/wp/real-id/)nor any other Federal law requires, or could require, California or any other state to share any data with AAMVA, a private nonprofit corporation\.
As we pointed out in our earlier[testimony](https://papersplease.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IDP-S2S-BUDGET-19MAR2026.pdf)on the budget proposal, California has a choice\. The state could and should say “No” to premature capitulation to DHS threats\.
The Legislature should reject this “compromise” sell\-out\. Instead, the state, through its Attorney General, could and should prepare to defend Californians against any interference by the DHS or Transportation Security Administration \(TSA\) with our right to travel\.