Hundreds wait for hours to buy S.F. ID card SAN FRANCISCO Foes see them as making life easier for illegal immigrants

(Left) Maggie Zevallous with the Clerks office talks to people who are lined up inside the City Hall to get an appointment for new ID cards on Thursday Jan 15, 2009 in San Francisco , Calif. (Left) Maggie Zevallous with the Clerks office talks to people who are lined up inside the City Hall to get an appointment for new ID cards on Thursday Jan 15, 2009 in San Francisco , Calif. Photo: Kurt Rogers, The Chronicle Photo: Kurt Rogers, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Hundreds wait for hours to buy S.F. ID card 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards regardless of their immigration status.

The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally.

But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards hailed the new program as a way to connect undocumented immigrants with banks, businesses and city services, such as obtaining health care and checking out library books. They also said it will encourage card holders to report crimes to the police without fear of being arrested or deported.

"I really need the identification card," said Marvin Martinez, 50, who arrived in the city five months ago from Florida and is originally from Mexico. Martinez, who didn't say whether he was a legal resident, stood in a long line - one made up mostly of Latino men - that snaked down the marble hallway outside the county clerk's office.

"I'll use it to look for jobs and for school and when the police stop me, I'll have ID to show them," he said. "It'll improve things."

The clerk's office expected to create 30 cards on the first day of the program, and signed up hundreds of people for appointments in the coming days. The clerk's office eventually will hand out about 50 cards per day.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who as a supervisor wrote the legislation creating the card program, was the first to receive a card - though he initially thought he could do so with just his driver's license and had to return with a utility bill. Even his Assembly ID card didn't count, he pointed out with a laugh.

People must show proof of identity like a driver's license or foreign passport, as well as proof of residency such as a utility bill or proof of having a child enrolled in the city's public schools.

"Mr. Ammiano forgot to bring his residency documents," County Clerk Karen Hong said. "Education is key."

Ammiano, Hong and many other city officials gathered in the North Light Court on Thursday morning to announce the program. Notably absent was Mayor Gavin Newsom, who aides alternately said was running late or was busy in a meeting upstairs.

The widespread assumption at the news conference was that Newsom - often criticized for holding too many news conferences - was avoiding the controversial issue because it may not play well in his bid for governor in 2010.

"He ducked it," Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said. "My take is whatever his larger aspirations are, they seem to be eclipsing the local gains like this. He should be proud of this, and I'm sure quietly he is."

After an unrelated event to announce the expansion of a free Wi-Fi program for public housing residents, Newsom said he had been meeting with his budget director during the identification card event. He said he's not worried about how the program will affect his run for governor.

"This would go at the end of a very long list of things that will be points of consternation that will be targeted against me," he said. There had been earlier talk of him joining Ammiano to get a card himself to promote the program, which he also rejected.

"I've got more IDs than I need," he said. "This is for other people. This is not for the mayor of San Francisco. In fact, with respect, I appreciate some city employees getting it, but I wish it was going to the people it was intended for in the first day or two."

Newsom supported identification cards when Board of Supervisors approved the program in 2007. But he put the program on hold last summer following a series of Chronicle articles about how the city was shielding youth in the country illegally from deportation after they were found guilty of committing felonies.

That practice was stopped, and Newsom said he wanted to ensure the identification cards complied with state and federal laws before going forward.

The Immigration Reform Law Institute of Washington sued to block the cards on behalf of four San Francisco residents who said the program would aid illegal immigration. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch tossed the suit in October.

Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform - a national group that wants immigration laws enforced more strongly - said it's ridiculous to create a program to attract more illegal immigrants when most U.S. cities are struggling financially.

"Maybe San Francisco is the exception to the rule, and they have money to burn - who knows?" Mehlman said.

City Administrator Ed Lee said the machinery to produce the cards cost $700,000 and staffing will cost $150,000 annually.

Supporters said the program isn't just for illegal immigrants. Homeless people often have trouble obtaining ID cards because they have no fixed address. And transgender people are sometimes stigmatized if they show a driver's license that indicates their legal sex is different from how they appear; the city cards have no sex designation.