LAINGSBURG, Mich. — Humberto Briseno walked into the Secretary of State's office to renew his driver’s license.
He said he thought it would be an easy process but said quickly he felt discriminated against.
"I’m not asking for a pat on the back, all I’m asking is to be treated like a person...not a color."
Briseno brought his current driver’s license, his concealed pistol license, and his military ID – all enough to renew a driver’s license but not one that is real id compliant. We'll get back to that in a minute.
"She said 'these don't prove anything,' and writes down 'Not US’ on my paper. I asked her what that meant, and she said, "until you can prove to me that you have a visa or a birth certificate, you're not a U.S. Citizen.'"
He says seeing 'Not US’ on his papers frustrated him, so he walked out.
News 10 reached out to Secretary of State and they tell us that 'Not US’ did not have anything to do with his race or citizenship it had to do with that new license option.
'Not US’ is a reference to the federal Real ID system and it means that we're not going to run that kind of a license, we're going to run a regular license," said SOS Communications Director Shawn Starkey.
When you go into the Secretary of State to renew your license or get a new one, you'll be asked if you want a Real-id; Briseno says that wasn't the case; they only told him he didn't have the right documents when all he wanted was a regular driver's license.
And for a Real ID, you do need more than one Briseno had given them.
"He didn't have the required documents with him, he needed among them a birth certificate," said Starkey.
Briseno says he understands how it could have been miscommunication but says he is still frustrated with how he was treated.
"I don't want this person to get fired, i just want them to understand that we are people."
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