Are Burqas and veils permitted on driving licenses in Illinois?

Rumours are spreading on the Internet that assert the powers that be in Illinois have now permitted Muslims and other religious groups to wear burqas and other face-obscuring religious garments on their driver license photo.

The rumours are false, and are the end result of a combination of several factors that include miscommunication, religious scare-mongering and ignorance.

The salient points of the story are these –

– No you cannot wear burqas, veils or any other garment that covers your face in your driver’s license, in Illinois or any other US state.
– Yes you can wear religious headgear on your Illinois driver’s license, such as the hijab worn by Muslim women or the turban which is common in men of the Sikh faith. These garments do not cover the face.
– No this is not a new stipulation in Illinois, it has been in place for some time.
– No Illinois did not relax any regulation under pressure from Islamic groups – again this stipulation has been in place for some time.
– It seems the entire story has evolved into these nonsense rumours after the state of Illinois reiterated these exemptions in distributed flyers after complaints from a Sikh advocacy group called SALDEF

It started last year after complaints from Sikh Americans who were being asked to removed their religious headgear for their driver’s license photos. This prompted the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) to take the issue to the Illinois’ Secretary of State’s office.

This led to flyers being distributed that outlined the religious exemptions – that were already in place – regarding religious garments that could or could not be worn in a driver’s license photo.

Since the driver’s license is intended to be used as identification, whilst headgear that does not cover the face is permissible, garments that do cover the face – which include burqas that cover everything but the eyes, or full veils that cover the entire face, are not permissible.

The story was completely turned upside down by the Bare Naked Islam website known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, who claimed that Illinois has become “Sharia-compliant” and would allow “Muslim headbags” (derogatory term for the burqa) and their blog post contains several images of Muslims wearing full veils and burqas, none of which would actually be allowed on a driver’s license in Illinois.

This story was quickly picked up by various conservative blogs and rumours quickly spread across social media to the effect that Muslims would be allowed to wear burqas and other face obscuring garments in drivers licenses, which is untrue.

The Bare Naked Islam blog also asserted it was done under pressure from the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) which they label a terrorist organisation. The US government does not consider that group a terrorist group (note: The UAE does) and whilst reports assert they were consulted, it was actually (as pointed out above) the Sikh SALDEF organisation that issued the complaint to the Illinois Secretary of State office (not that that does much good to an anti-Islam blog.)

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Deputy Press Secretary for Illinois Secretary of State Henry Haupt since clarified the situation

Somewhere I am being misquoted as having said that burqas and veils may be worn by people when photographed for their Illinois driver’s license or ID card. Let me be clear: In Illinois, people are prohibited from wearing any article of clothing that covers their face when being photographed for a driver’s license or identification card.

While Illinois law does allow a person to wear a religious head covering when photographed for their driver’s license or identification card, it cannot cover the person’s face. This is because the photograph plays an integral part of identifying the holder of the driver’s license and identification card.

To clarify further with an example, a head scarf covering the hair of a customer would be allowed, but an article of clothing covering the entire face, except the eyes, would not be allowed.

Thus the assertion that burqas are now allowed on driver’s license photos in Illinois is completely false. There has been no change to restrictions and exemptions, only clarification.