Posted on 08/19/2004 4:16:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (AP) - The state may suspend driver's licenses for up to 300,000 people, including many illegal immigrants, because their Social Security numbers could not be verified, a top state official said Thursday.
Motor Vehicles Department Commissioner Raymond Martinez called the program a matter of homeland security and traffic safety.
"The rules must be applied to all, and we must be sure that no document is issued to any individual unless we are certain of that individual's identity," he said, testifying before the state Assembly's transportation committee.
The move was condemned by immigrant advocates.
"Immigrant workers are not terrorists," said Gouri Sadhwani, director of the New York Civic Participation Project. "We are hardworking community members."
Since February, the department has mailed nearly 500,000 letters to people across the state whose listed Social Security numbers could not be verified, and more letters will be mailed. Roughly half the people who received letters corrected the problem.
Martinez said he expects 275,000 to 300,000 people will fail to provide legitimate Social Security numbers, and said the DMV will move to suspend their licenses.
Since 2000, Martinez said the department has uncovered "rampant and criminal acts of fraud" and has found hundreds of thousands of people who used false Social Security numbers.
He said more than 100,000 New York residents may have had their Social Security numbers used by someone else. He described one case in which 57 people used a single Social Security number.
While the crackdown will guard against insurance fraud and identity thefts, protecting against terrorism was the main reason behind the program, he said. All but one of the Sept. 11 hijackers had valid driver's licenses, many which were obtained fraudulently, he said.
Crowds of immigrants and their advocates who packed into the public hearing room said revoking the driver's licenses of illegal immigrants would imperil their ability to work and make the roads more dangerous.
Another faction at the hearing, the families of Sept. 11 victims, said stricter motor vehicle measures are needed to protect the nation.
"Anybody we can't identify is a potential terrorist," said Bruce DeCell, whose son-in-law, Mark Petrocelli, died in the World Trade Center attack.
Only 300,000? They must not be trying very hard.
Already posted here
do you feel better now? LOL
YES!!!
~</;o)
LOL!!! but there's this one little problem...;-)
For once, I beat you to it Tom!
Only if it were a dupe. ;-)
Every once in a while, I read something that gives me hope. A headline is a good start.
OK, so the glass is only a tenth full. What's the problem with that? You want it either full or empty?
Different source.. as best I can tell.. lol... :-P
Don't get yer hopes up yet. Just because they take their bogus SS cards away or their driver's liscenses doesn't mean they're going to deport the termites.
Don't get me wrong, I LIKE this a lot.
Just pointing out that there is a lot o fheadroom left for this number to go up.
This is not going to help! maybe we should pass some more laws that no will care about. If someone is going to brake the law...what the hell is one more or a dozen!!! In the mean time we loose more freedoms!
Immigrants can get drivers' licenses in the US. They just have to take the tests and show their passports and immigrant visas. Unless you meant ILLEGAL immigrant.
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