No Photo ID, No Services: Coronavirus Poses Steep Hurdles After Prison
For many people leaving prison during the pandemic, closed DMVs mean closed doors.
Michael Albuja had only been in Illinois state prison for 18 months when he came home April 28, hoping to pick up his life where he left off. But he returned to Chicago’s Northside missing something small but crucial: photo identification. With government offices closed in a statewide partial shutdown, he has no idea when he might get an ID.
Albuja used to work as a forklift operator for a printing company, a job he says was waiting for him when he finished his sentence. But someone in the human resources department broke the news that they couldn’t rehire him without valid identification.
“Every single job I apply to, every temp agency I go to, they say the same thing,” Albuja said. “Without the ID nobody can do nothing for me. This is the
