Posted on 07/20/2011 9:46:22 AM PDT by CedarDave
Ten thousand randomly selected foreign nationals with New Mexico driver’s licenses are being told to make appointments in Albuquerque to verify their residency, Gov. Susana Martinez’s office said Tuesday.
Drivers who don’t make the appointments or fail to provide proof of residency would face cancellation of their licenses, the Governor’s Office said.
Martinez said the residency certification program will provide data about the extent to which licenses have been issued to people who don’t live in New Mexico.
The administration said the letters were to go out beginning immediately to 10,000 of the 85,000 foreign nationals without Social Security numbers who have obtained New Mexico driver’s licenses since 2003.
If the data from the review of 10,000 drivers indicate a widespread problem of licenses issued to nonresidents, the Motor Vehicle Division will proceed to verify the residency of the rest of the foreign national drivers, Martinez’s office said.
Immigrants’ rights groups were alarmed by the governor’s announcement, and a Democratic state senator said the administration initiative “looks more like a witch hunt than good public policy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
How it is in other states — if you move and show a valid NM license do you automatically get a new license in that state, or are you flagged because NM doesn’t require proof of immigration status?
Ten thousand randomly selected foreign nationals with New Mexico driver’s licenses
Didn’t they have to prove residency to get the license to begin with?
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When I lived there I needed to show a utility bill with an address to get my NM license.
I'm not certain about all of them, but before I moved to New Mexico, I lived in New Hampshire (after moving there from Idaho).
New Hampshire wouldn't accept my old Idaho license without other proof. I had to provide birth certificates, marriage license for me and my wife, social security cards, and my old Idaho license, and proof of residency in NH to get a DL in NH.
... U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state Taxation and Revenue investigators have made similar arrests involving undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala. Most of those arrested came from Georgia, Florida, New York and Illinois, all of which require proof of immigration status.
Read more: ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Poles Coming to N.M. for Licenses http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/302342478552newsstate07-30-10.htm
Well, at least it is a step in the right direction.
It’s insane the way our government creates problems for itself. I guess that’s what keeps them in business because they can’t possibly be that ignorant.
When I moved to AZ in '09, I was flagged on my NM license. Fortunately, my record of previously having an AZ license was still available, so I was issued a new one based on that.
“Well, at least it is a step in the right direction.”
No, it isn’t! It’s madness! They don’t have to prove they’re in the COUNTRY legally. Just that they’re residents of New Mexico. You know, produce a water or cable bill.
Why do I care whether they’re paying for a phone in Santa Fe? Does that protect me when they’re allowed to board a plane with these licenses? Does that refund my tax money that supports them? Does that get my family members jobs who’ve been priced out of electrical contracting?
The takeaway from this article is NEW MEXICO GIVES DRIVERS LICENSES TO ILLEGAL ALIENS.
New Mexico should be expelled from America until they agree to enforce national sovereignty to the extent states are allowed to.
I don’t think so. The way the article reads, all they are checking is “residency”. Do they actually live in NM or not? Like, can they produce a pay stub or an electric bill or rent receipt? That’s all that means.
Hey! You stealing my thunder by typing faster? And, by being correct.:)
I was typing rather hysterically, as you can see by the generous use of exclamation points and caps.
I’m calmer now.
But honestly, DON’T GET ME STARTED ON STATES THAT ISSUE LICENSES TO ILLEGAL ALI—
Oh, dear. Here we go...
Good for her! If the legislature won’t help she’ll find another way!
It’s insane the way our government creates problems for itself. I guess that’s what keeps them in business because they can’t possibly be that ignorant.
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This policy was put into place by a rather ethically challenged former Dem. Governor. He made NM a sanctuary state also - illegal immigrants get all the benefits in our state and their children immediately get in-state tuition at our colleges. My daughter that came and lived with us to finish her college degree couldn’t get in-state tuition even though we’d lived there for 3 years at that time, but children of illegal immigrants can just walk into the state and immediately get it.
Unfortunately that’s all the Governor can do right now. The state legislature did not pass a bill to stop this practice, as she asked.
Right now this is likely all she can do legally. She has already had the Democrats in the legislature take her decisions on other things to the NM Supreme Court so she has to make sure she is doing what she legally can and no more. They’ve put her on notice they don’t mind wasting money hauling her into the court system.
We're working on it. Governor Martinez is doing what she can, since the dems in the state killed a bill to deny illegals licenses.
It’s time to put law abiding CITIZENS in this country first. I think this push for rights for illegals began as a way to get ready for One-World-Government as the Libs and Dems had hoped. I think we just caught on faster than they had hoped. In their giddiness over electing Obama, they really exposed themselves. I believe BIG changes are on the way. Changes they are not going to like. Hang in there
In Texas, now, we have a voter ID requirement and you must show proof of citizenship to get a DL.
Nearly got the anti-sanctuary cities measure but, not quite.
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