Myrick [R-NC]: N.C. must halt illegal driver licenses (bill would cut off $870 million to N.C.)

Charlotte Observer ^ | November 9, 2005 | Tim Funk

[southernnorthcarolina]

WASHINGTON - Citing national security, GOP Rep. Sue Myrick of Charlotte introduced legislation Wednesday that would deny North Carolina $870 million in federal highway money unless it stops issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Specifically, Myrick's bill would target six states that still accept taxpayer ID numbers -- issued by the Internal Revenue Service -- as proof of identity or residence by persons seeking a driver's license.

Besides North Carolina, Myrick's office said, those states are West Virginia, Illinois, Utah, New Mexico and Kentucky.

But Myrick, who is looking at a possible run for governor in 2008, led off her Wednesday morning news conference by focusing on North Carolina -- particularly the Democrats who run state government in Raleigh.

"Basically, we're here to call on the governor (Mike Easley) and the legislature in North Carolina to stop issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens," said Myrick, who was joined by GOP Reps. Patrick McHenry of Cherryville and Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk -- both former members of the N.C. legislature.

Myrick's immigration bill, her third this year, targets an issue that has angered her base of conservative supporters.

North Carolina is home to an estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants. For them, a driver's license is more than just legal authorization to drive. It's a government-approved ID, complete with a picture. Flashing this prized possession can make it easier to keep a job, cash a check or find a place to live.

For years, the North Carolina DMV argued that it was better that undocumented immigrants who were going to drive anyway be licensed to drive. That way, they'd know the state's rules of the road.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks raised security concerns, the state tightened the driver's license rules.

But not enough, said Myrick and the others Wednesday.

"Our feeling is that a driver's license is a privilege for citizens and legal aliens and it shouldn't be something given to somebody who broke the law," Myrick said.

But she denied that she was targeting Hispanics in low-paying jobs, who make up -- by far -- the biggest percentage of illegal immigrants in the state.

"This isn't aimed at any one race," Myrick said. "Our main concern is: Who's in our state? This is a critical issue today. They just arrested, down on the border, a couple of weeks ago, three al Queda members who came across from Mexico into the United States."

[southernnorthcarolina]

As the late, great Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-IL) famously said, "a billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." For North Carolina to have to forfeit almost a billion for doing the right thing is an outrage.

Nonetheless, I hope Rep. Myrick (who is my Congresswoman) succeeds. Last time I checked, the Republican Party controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. It's long past time they acted like the majority party. Perhaps the prospect of penalizing a state for making a rudimentary effort to enhance national security will bring about enough political pressure to get this mess straightened out. But I'm not holding my breath.

[gubamyster]

ping

[Howlin]

Good for her.

[SouthernFreebird]

Good!

[Regulator]

Myrick is just running right on this issue to cover her pro-CAFTA vote in the summer. She couldn't care less about the issue, she's an RNC soldier.

They're more than willing to let her do a little grandstanding to shore up her base, but nothing will happen beyond that. After all, who's going to take care of the grounds at the country club there in Charlotte?

[southernnorthcarolina]

Let me make a correction. I misinterpreted the article; I read it at first as a cutoff of the Fed subsidy if NC denied licenses to illegals. In fact, Sue's bill, if enacted, would cut off those funds if NC did not deny licenses to illegals.

In any event, it's a good bill, one which I hope will receive serious attention in Congress, ans apply some serious heat to the Dem-controlled General Assembly in Raleigh.

[mtbopfuyn]

Sometimes you just have to talk to their wallets to get their attention.

[southernnorthcarolina]

CAFTA:illegal aliens::apples:oranges. The key word is illegal.

[CindyDawg]

It's not cutting anything. They should be happy with all the extra money they should not have gotten, to begin with.

[TaxRelief]

Take that Easley and sho.... Never mind.

Methinks Sue is positioning herself well for a run at the governor's mansion.

[TaxRelief]

NC Republican Congresscritters are standing up to corrupt Dem, ping!

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day, Alia OR TaxRelief if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[ConsentofGoverned]

explains why here in Maryland I see so many hispanic drivers who all have North Carolina License Plates..if you give them driver licenses keep them in YOUR STATE. NC is a disgrace to the USA you continue to support illegals. I believe some terrorists on 9/11 got ID's in your state.

[TaxRelief]

After all, who's going to take care of the grounds at the country club there in Charlotte?

There's been enough discussion to discredit the "slave labor" argument over the past two years. It's old.

[billbears]

For North Carolina to have to forfeit almost a billion for doing the right thing is an outrage.

Forfeit what? The national government shouldn't be in the business of handing out money for roads in the first place. Rep. Myrick is threatening to cut wasteful spending unless North Carolina stops handing out drivers licenses to criminals? This is what conservatism has sunk to?

[Just mythoughts]

bttt

[Katya]

Here in the mid-Atlantic Tennessee license plates generally mean illegals driving the vehicle. I don't quite understand why some states are still making it so easy to get a license and register a vehicle.

[TaxRelief]

Discussion of Myrick's mention of Al-Qaeda caught at Mexican border here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519110/posts

[Regulator]

How schoolmarmish of you. Myrick is a politician who lost a lot of ground over her CAFTA vote. You do know about that, right?

So a nice cheap way to put your problems behind you is to change the subject, hang out some red meat for the folks you just ticked off. And since job loss to foreigners in foreign countries : job loss to foreigners in this country :: CAFTA : illegal aliens, it's a fairly simple decision to go after illegals.

Gosh, that wasn't hard, was it? Poli Sci 101.

[Regulator]

There's been enough discussion to discredit the "slave labor" argument over the past two years. It's old

Really? When did that happen? Perhaps you imagined it.

[southernnorthcarolina]

You seem to be pretty sure, from your perch on the Left Coast, that protectionism plays well in the South. From my closer perspective, that's not the case. Sue Myrick's CAFTA vote won't hurt her a whit with regard to whatever statewide aspirations she may have (though she has other political problems, and may not be the strongest gubernatorial candidate the GOP can field).

CAFTA has no political legs here. Zip, zero, nada. Not on Charlotte talk radio, not at the coffee house in Weddington, not at my barber shop in Waxhaw, not at my bar in Matthews. Moreover, CAFTA has little, if anything, to do with illegal immigration. I may not like it that my boxers were stitched together in Honduras, but it's not nearly as big a deal as an illegal Honduran immigrant using a North Carolina driver's license to tap the welfare system.