Houston Cabbies Protest ID Card Scheme

Houston Cabbies Protest ID Card Scheme

04-29-2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5739028.html


More than 100 taxis paraded around downtown Houston's Tranquillity Park today to protest Wednesday's deadline for all cabdrivers who do business at Houston airports to wear photo IDs.

Starting Wednesday, drivers who seek fares at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports must have badges. To get them, cabbies will be required to pass criminal and immigration background checks by the Transportation Security Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Cab industry observers say this is the first such program for cabdrivers in the nation.

The demonstration, which passed in front of the federal courthouse and beside City Hall, came after a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed this morning on behalf of the Houston Drivers Fund, also known as the Houston Taxi Association.

The group represents 700 to 1,000 independent cabdrivers, about 95 percent of whom are minorities, the lawsuit states.

The drivers are asking for an emergency hearing before a federal judge to stop the city from enforcing the new rules, which the lawsuit alleges are discriminatory and target the cabbies because most are foreign-born.

Drivers already are required to pass FBI background checks to get city-issued operating licenses.

The lawsuit also asks a federal judge to force the city to improve conditions in staging areas and, because of several recent murders of taxi drivers, allow cabbies to refuse service without fear of losing their operating licenses.

"These drivers are ambassadors for people who come to our city," said Houston lawyer Reginald McKamie, who filed the suit on behalf of the drivers. "They've made complaints and nobody's listening to them."

Officials with the Houston Airport System have said the ID cards have nothing to do with race or nationality. Hired chauffeurs already are required to wear badges and, once taxi drivers get their cards, shuttle bus drivers are next.