Next City - One Way Cities Are Welcoming Immigrants

One Way Cities Are Welcoming Immigrants

01/15/25 • 31 min

IDs aren’t just about identification — they’re about connection. This episode dives into the power of municipal ID programs to foster trust and open doors. We learn from successful programs in two very different cities — New York City and Greensboro, N.C. — that strive to be inclusive.
For undocumented and underdocumented residents, not having an ID can mean being excluded from all kinds of basic services. You can't drive or open a bank account without an ID. You may be afraid to report crimes to law enforcement. The list goes on.
But a few cities across the U.S. are experimenting with municipal ID programs — a simple form of ID that provides anyone, including undocumented residents and the unhoused, a way to access essential parts of their cities. In today's episode, we're learning about Greensboro, North Carolina's FaithAction ID initiative as well as New York City's IDNYC program. Both programs were born out of collaboration between nonprofits, police departments and local governments – and both have been replicated by other municipalities across the country.
“A lot of the clients that come in, sometimes they've recently arrived to Greensboro,” says Araceli Lopez, a community nurse who works at Faith Action International House and helps people get a FaithAction ID card to be able to access medical care. “Maybe five days ago that they just arrived, and they've been having chronic health conditions. The first thing I will ask them if it is if they have an ID, and sometimes they've lost everything on their journey here.”

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Crushing Medical Debt: The Movement to Revolutionize Healthcare Access

In the United States, medical debt isn’t just a financial burden; it’s a reflection of deeper systemic inequities that force individuals to take on “survival debt” — debt incurred just to meet basic needs like health care. Today, Mayor Carter joins us alongside Allison Sesso, the Executive Director of Undue Medical Debt, to explore how cities can lead the charge in addressing medical debt — and what it means to rethink our systems of care, equity, and economic justice.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter joins us alongside Allison Sesso of Undue Medical Debt to explore how cities can lead the charge in addressing medical debt — and what it means to rethink our systems of care, equity, and economic justice.
This week, in the final days of the Biden administration, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to prevent medical debt from being included in credit scores. It's a reminder that in medical debt isn’t just a financial burden; it’s a reflection of deeper systemic inequities that force individuals to take on “survival debt” — debt incurred just to meet basic needs like health care – and can impact their lives for years to come.
That's why more and more cities, counties and states have been pairing up with the national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt to purchase their residents' debt portfolios from collectors and healthcare providers – and then forgiving the debts en masse, paying mere pennies on the dollar to provide serious financial relief. Many have been using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to do so.
“We have folks who look at us and say, this doesn't solve health care,” says St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who worked with Undue Medical Debt to erase $100 million in medical debt for thousands of residents. “And I go, no, that's absolutely accurate. This doesn't solve health care for the planet, for the country, for even our city. It does provide a real, clear breath of fresh air for a whole lot of people who need it right now.”

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Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

We’re off this week for Martin Luther King Jr. Day but we’ll be back next Wednesday with more inspiring and workable ideas that move our society toward justice and equity.
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