Eliot Spitzer's Plan To Give Drivers Licenses To Illegal Aliens
The "Undocumented" No More
By Dan McLaughlin Posted in Democratic Governors | Immigration — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer has kicked up yet another firestorm with his latest genius idea, to issue drivers' licenses to illegal aliens, a plan that has, unsurprisingly, unified New York's Republicans and Conservatives, ranging from Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani to State Senate President Joe Bruno to erstwhile Republican Mayor Mike Bloomberg to the state's bumptious Conservative Party:
All New Yorkers are now entitled to earn a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status, under an administrative policy change Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced Friday.
The controversial change was hailed by supporters as a necessary measure to make roads safer, increase the number of insured drivers and protect immigrants’ rights. Opponents said it will threaten homeland security and could put driver’s licenses in the hands of terrorists.
Reversing a post-9/11 state policy that made it impossible for undocumented workers to obtain licenses, Spitzer and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts said Social Security numbers no longer will be required to obtain a license. A passport or other valid identification can be used instead. The initiative is aimed at identifying unlicensed drivers on the roads. The DMV estimates that could include 10,000 people.
"I applaud the DMV and Commissioner Swarts for making this common-sense change that deals practically with the reality that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants live among us and that allowing them the opportunity to obtain driver licenses in a responsible and secure manner will help increase public safety," Spitzer said in a statement.
Read On...
New anti-fraud measures will be implemented to increase the security of licensing, officials said. The DMV will use new document verification technology, photo-comparison tools, and staff specially trained in foreign-source identifications. People need to prove New York residency to obtain a license.
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The Social Security number requirement was implemented in 1995 as part of an effort to punish parents for not paying child support. In 2002, the state began allowing people ineligible for Social Security numbers to apply for licenses. A subsequent administrative policy change required proof of ineligibility from the Social Security Administration, a document only available to legal immigrants, thus making it impossible for illegal immigrants to get licenses.
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"Today's directive to the Department of Motor Vehicles to no longer require provide Social Security numbers, or proof that they are eligible for Social Security cards, will certainly make it easier for illegal immigrants to obtain valid identification to blend into society," said Michael Long, state chairman of the Conservative Party.
The State Senate isn't just talking, either, and it looks as if it may have the votes to force a showdown with the ham-handed Spitzer:
In an effort to stop what they deem an ill-advised order from Governor Spitzer that could jeopardize the safety and security of New Yorkers, the New York State Senate will act on legislation next month to prohibit the state from issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens. The legislation would require a social security number or proof of authorized presence in the United States to obtain a New York State drivers license.
"The Senate has made its' opposition to the Governor's plan very clear," Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said. "The Senate passed a bill earlier this year that would have prevented illegal aliens from obtaining drivers licenses and we will act on a new bill when we return for a special session next month to stop the Governor’s plan. We need the Assembly to join us. We need the Speaker to bring the Assembly back into session, pass our bill, and deliver a strong message to the Governor that the people of this state oppose his plan and it must be stopped."
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The legislation the Senate will take up next month is similar to bills proposed by Senator Frank Padavan (Queens) that would require applicants for a drivers license or non-driver identification card, to submit satisfactory proof to the Department of Motor Vehicles that the applicant’s presence in the United States is authorized under federal law (S.74); and legislation (S.6250), passed by the Senate in June, sponsored by Senator John Flanagan (R-C, East Northport), that would require the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to obtain proof from any applicant for a drivers license or nondriver identification card who cannot provide a social security number, that they are ineligible for a social security number. The Assembly did not act on this bill.
More here from a Staten Island Republican, and here for more from Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, who insists he will not follow the new policy:
"I've been with the DMV 20 years, I've seen a lot of crazy things. This is the worst," Merola said of the governor's plan. "My stomach is in knots. I just don't understand how I can issue a driver's license to a person who can't prove they're here legally. If they want to put 'undocumented' across the top of it, that would be just fine, but they went just the opposite.
"Osama bin Laden could be standing in my lobby and I'd have to give him a driver's license."
He said licenses issued by his office after Monday no longer have a temporary stamp that show license holders are not permanent, legal residents meaning the licenses are good for eight years though the driver may no longer be legally in the U.S. by then.After Pataki's 2002 order, Merola said, county clerks collected Social Security numbers from drivers' license applicants and checked the numbers against Social Security records. They found 120,000 cases of bogus Social Security numbers that were used to apply for driving privileges.
Giuliani, who has been under fire from Mitt Romney for policies tolerant of illegal aliens while Mayor but who has been running on a platform of requiring better identification of those who enter the country legally, ripped the plan:
"I think it would just create an even further level of fraud and confusion in what is already a very confusing picture," said Mr. Giuliani . . .
"The reality is there is so much traffic in false documents that creates part of this problem," he said. "It is the reason I am so much in favor of a tamper-proof ID card for people who come in from foreign countries and want to work here."
Like Mayor Giuliani, I'm sympathetic to the problem of how you deal with a large illegal alien population without exacerbating the problem by having - in this case - scores of uninsured drivers on the roads. But so long as the drivers' license is used as a proxy identification card for broader purposes (which it will be in practice for some time despite federal efforts to improve on the situation), licenses that do not in any way reflect on their face that they were issued without proof of legal residency will only make the situation worse. Spitzer seems to have forgotten yet again that New York is particularly vulnerable to terrorism:
Certain facts about terrorist operations are beyond dispute, and as the 9/11 Commission noted, one is that terrorists cannot function without I.D. The sixty-three authentic U.S. driver’s licenses the 9/11 terrorists held (from Virginia, Florida, Maryland and other states) permitted them to blend in as ordinary U.S. citizens; permitted them to rent cars, open bank accounts, rent hotel rooms, obtain credit cards, etc. They used them when purchasing flying lessons. And on the morning of 9/11, their U.S. licenses were the "valid ID" that got them on board the planes they used as missiles.
Those authentic, U.S. issued drivers licenses were the tools that allowed the terrorists to hide in plain sight among millions of other illegal aliens and to obtain all the goods and services they needed to plan, rehearse, finance and carry out their attacks.
Naturally, Spitzer's allies on the Left are lining up behind him - the AFL-CIO, the NY Civil Liberties Union, and of course, the NY Times. These are, of course, the same folks who invariably line up to protest requirements that even the most basic forms of identification - such as, yes, the drivers' license - be presented before you can vote (an issue now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court). All of which suggests the real priority here, which is to find new and different ways to enlarge the Left's political base outside of the pool of U.S. citizens.
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Eliot Spitzer's Plan To Give Drivers Licenses To Illegal Aliens 14 Comments (0 topical, 14 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
He turned New York into a sanctuary city where illegals received all public services.
It's just a good thing that you posted something in line with my views, rather than opposed, so that it's easier for me to pick up on it and call it out, heh.
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Reality: Thompson/Romney Dream: Santorum/Watts.
Or else you'd have a 500-word essay to write on the difference between not deporting an illegal that's committed a crime vs. not deporting an illegal who's reported a crime or been the victim of a crime.
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(Formerly known as bee) / Internet member since 1987
Member of the Surreality-Based Community
opposition research factoids to use against him. On the public dime, of course.
since his nasty thuggish personality has been revealed by his recent actions. He's doing his best to enable the illegal immigrants to be able to vote (for him).
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
If the state of New York will give Osama bin Laden a license, isn't that better than if he were driving without one? I think some of us are making the assumption that making something illegal makes it not happen -- we know that's not the case, because immigration without due process is illegal and yet people still do it, at great risk to themselves. If these illegals need a car to get to work, they will find a car and take it to work regardless of whether they can get a license. Same thing with drugs; people will smoke marijuana whether it's legal or not.
I know this is hard to understand, so I'll provide the analogy of a thin mountain ridge. Even though the obvious way to get from point A to point B might be to walk along a narrow high path with sheer drops on both sides, we shouldn't assume people will take that path because any deviation spells death and/or mutilation. I know it's not a perfect analogy to this issue, but it's the concept that matters here, of an unstable equilibrium. Assuming that the law will be followed even when it makes life impossible is a fallacy, and if the consequences of not following the law are great enough, it might endanger others. This is the stated purpose of Spitzer's order: to legalize a behavior that is done illegally at higher risk.
The same principle can be applied to abortions; if we make them illegal, people will still have them in a very unsafe manner. Even though the drug trade in northern Mexico is illegal, there are still drug lords who engage in extremely destructive behavior (including regular murders of police officers in Monterrey) with impunity because of the incentives of following the law. There is also the example mentioned by Finrod of deporting illegals who report crimes -- that is an incentive for society-destroying crimes to go unreported. Osama bin Laden's plans to destroy Los Angeles could be overheard by an illegal, but he won't report them because then he'd be deported.
We need to take care when we decide that what we think are bad things should be illegal because of such externalities and the consequences to the rest of us when such a law is broken. Some liberals may care about the well-being of illegal immigrants, but whether we do or not, we are compromising the safety of those around them by forcing the illegals to take extreme measures to circumvent the law.
Your analogy is strained. I was going to say stupid, but Moe's already on my case about that so "strained" will have to do.
The point, which you've either missed or just don't care about, is that a driver's license is the door opener to everything. Bank accounts. Conducting business. Voting. And let's not forget voting.
Handing an illegal alien a driver's license doesn't make anybody safer. Cutting off his ability to work and to get state benefits to the point where he goes home does.
I'm passing on commenting on your abortion example. It's been a long day, too many Ronettes and I'm tired. Moe would be upset with me and I don't want that, primarily because Franz bites me when I upset Moe. That example, however, is beyond strained.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
I did miss that drivers' licenses opens doors to things, but that's still part of it; we might not want these illegals here, but we don't want a black market, either. However, how does having a driver's licence let you VOTE? Maybe I'm just naive, but as a noncitizen I couldn't vote even with a license. Unless voter registrations are given away like air, I don't see how a driver's licence is proof of citizenship. Besides, voting isn't such an important thing in the life of an illegal immigrant that he'll sacrifice his existence for it.
I completely agree about the state benefits thing -- I don't think that illegals should have them; my argument was that we might need to give them what they should NOT have because our society will be better off -- safer, etc. -- that way. Still, eliminating the black markets for the necessities of life, like jobs and such, would go a long way to disincentivize the illegal path into the US. I think of illegals as Jean Valjean who stole bread to feed his family. We can stop him from stealing if we hide the bread.
is a very bad idea I think on many levels.
The very first that comes to mind is that it gives some legitimacy to them.
Consider the implication involved with traffic stops alone.
Pulled over for some minor traffic violation with no license and there is greater penalty and more importantly likely possibility of further action based on illegal status.
Illegal pulled over with valid license... well, he has permission to use the roads now and so the issue would have to end with a standard citation.
Not only that, but it would validate the driving across state lines and such as well.
This is not even getting into the door opening aspect mentioned by mbecker908 above.
Granting license (permission do what is otherwise illegal) may grant some form of control or intel but it will not make any driver more skilled. In this case I do not think that control outweighs the problems it would cause.
on the black market, they should have to buy food there too. I'm perfectly fine with not only keeping them in the shadows, I'm good with forcing them deeper into the shadows.
I would prefer that you have to show proof of residency to rent housing, under no circumstance should an illegal be able to open a bank account or buy real property. I personally like the idea of illegals having to steal bread, if they get arrested we can deport them.
As far as voting goes, don't kid yourself. Groups like ACORN will recruit and pay them to vote. And they'll make the payments with taxpayer funds funneled to them by Democrats.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
I fail to see how giving an unlicensed, un-trained illegal alien a driver's license instantly makes him a safer driver. He will still not be able to afford auto insurance, and will not drive any differently. In fact, he (or she) will likely not drive as safely as before because he or she is no longer fearful of getting pulled over by a policeman. (Wait, didn't Rudy already eliminate that fear.)
If she lives in NYC, she likely does not need a driver's license to get around the city, using public transportation when workers are not on strike). In fact, you could claim (though I would not) that providing drivers licenses to illegals increases global warming, because at such low wages as they make, they will be driving older, more polluting vehicles that are not maintained.
-- A true evolutionist would let endangered species die off. Anyone care to change sides?
-- I see abortion as a pro-choice issue... the baby's choice would be life.
-- imwithfred --
Certain facts about terrorist operations are beyond dispute, and as the 9/11 Commission noted, one is that terrorists cannot function without I.D. The sixty-three authentic U.S. driver’s licenses the 9/11 terrorists held (from Virginia, Florida, Maryland and other states) permitted them to blend in as ordinary U.S. citizens; permitted them to rent cars, open bank accounts, rent hotel rooms, obtain credit cards, etc. They used them when purchasing flying lessons. And on the morning of 9/11, their U.S. licenses were the "valid ID" that got them on board the planes they used as missiles.
AFAIR, the 19 hijackers were in the country legally, on various valid visas (which they may have overstayed by 9/11, but not necessarily when they got their driver licenses).
Illegal immigrants are not terrorists; and on the flip side most terrorists have the knowledge and resources to get a valid visa, and even, if necessary, to forge passports and visas enough to fool driver licensing officers. Those are two separate issues.
Why would they bother going through the processes necessary to be here legally, if they can just jump the border and get ID anyway? The example with the 9/11 hijackers serves to establish the necessity of ID for the terrorists. It's hardly a red herring to point out how much easier it would make it for future terrorists if they didn't even have to have a valid visa to get a valid ID. That's just plain common sense.
absentee
we let Democrats and Liberals advance the abolish America policies. So many Republicans have been doing it, people have forgotten how treacherous, stupid, and dangerous it is.
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And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.