Cops: Give illegal immigrants driver's licenses

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | December 17, 2002 | MARK BIXLER

[sarcasm]

Police chiefs in Atlanta and DeKalb County and three smaller locations in Georgia have lined up behind a proposal to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

The police chiefs say that since illegal immigrants drive every day anyway, licensing them would lead them to buy auto insurance and learn the rules of the road. The law enforcement officials say one effect would be fewer crashes that involve uninsured motorists, which would help keep insurance premiums down for all drivers. The change in policy would also help police identify people who often lack ID or carry forged documents.

"However a person came into this country, why would you not want that person to have identification?" said Chief Eddie Moody of the DeKalb Police Department.

Moody and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington support legislation introduced by Rep. Barbara Mobley (D-Decatur) in the state House of Representatives during the last session. The bill would remove a requirement that limits Georgia driver's licenses to U.S. citizens and legal residents.

Police chiefs in Brunswick, Warner Robins and Glynn County also have endorsed the bill.

The support by police chiefs alarms Phil Kent, president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm that supports tighter immigration controls. Kent said it makes no sense for the state to license people whose very presence violates federal law.

"Not only is it foolish public policy, but it continues to undermine the rule of law," he said. "Police chiefs doing that is incomprehensible."

Kent said the foundation collected 10,000 signatures on a petition posted on its Web site opposing the effort to license illegal immigrants, a top priority for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other organizations that represent the state's booming Latino population.

The U.S. Census Bureau counted 435,000 Latinos in Georgia in 2000, but some demographers say the actual population is closer to 700,000. Firm estimates are elusive, but some Hispanic advocates say roughly half of Georgia Latinos are illegal immigrants.

Mobley championed the driver's license legislation last year, but it went nowhere. The effort probably will face an "uphill battle" in the legislative session that begins next month, said Sen. Bill Stephens (R-Canton), a floor leader for Gov.-elect Sonny Perdue.

Stephens said he has not read the bill or spoken about it with Perdue, but he predicted "a good deal of resistance . . . in the General Assembly."

Some legal immigrants would resent the state's granting licenses to people who "have not followed the rules of coming to this country," said Amitabh Sharma, president of the India-American Cultural Association in Smyrna. His concern: If someone did not obey immigration law, there "is a great likelihood" that same person would also disregard traffic laws.

Yet the reality is that "large companies and businesses are recruiting Hispanics into this country," said Brunswick Police Chief T.C. Cowan, and "many of them purchase a car and drive even though they have no driver's license or insurance."

The state Legislature should act because "it's no secret that the federal government . . . is not going to send all illegal immigrants back," said Chief Dan Hart of the Warner Robins Police Department. The federal Immigration and Naturalization Service has about 2,000 officers to enforce immigration law in a country with an estimated 9 million illegal immigrants.

The Atlanta and DeKalb police chiefs signed onto the bill after meeting with Jerry Gonzalez, a lobbyist for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a national civil rights organization with an office in Atlanta.

Some opponents of the licensing effort worry that foreign-born terrorists could use a driver's license to blend into the mainstream.

But Mobley argued that licensing illegal immigrants would improve national security by giving authorities a clearer picture of who lives here.

"This is a public safety issue," she said

[sushiman]

We moved back to the States from Japan for 6 months in 1995 . I had a NY license then . We moved to NH and I got a NH license . I brought that back to Japan with me at the end of 1995 . When I went to renew it a couple of years later , the State of NH would NOT renew the license because I no longer had a residence in the State !!! So now , I would have to not only take the written and driving tests in NY , where my family live , but also a 3 week defensive driver's course !!!! And I am an American citizen !

[AppyPappy]

Don't get me started on this. The Lutherans brought in a bunch of Vietnamese and insisted they have a house on the bus line so they could get to work. Shortly after, they got them all drivers licenses and cars to drive around. They could not drive and did not understand the concept of not driving while drunk. It was a disaster.

[doodad]

A couple of things since I live in the area of concern. These illegals get fake SS and drivers licenses all the time. First order of business when they get here. I know because I know some of the legal ones and hear the tales. My friend from Costa Rica is adamant about his hiring practices as a general contractor and had told many of his former countrymen (he is a proud American now) ADIOS. But, when an illegal gets here and sends all his money home the last thing he thinks of is maint., ins etc on a 1992 van. Hell the last thing he drove was a bicycle. I come across these guys all the time here, and they are the worst drivers. A coworker of mine was hit by one and the guy could not speak english (or presumably read road signs) and the cop couldn't tell if the thing he produced was insurance or not. We still don't know yet if it was legit. </rant> whew thanks

[Budge]

The police chiefs say that since illegal immigrants drive every day anyway, licensing them would lead them to buy auto insurance and learn the rules of the road.

Typical democRAT think. Give lawbreakers what law abiding citizens work for and the lawbreakers might see the error or their ways.

BULLSHIRT!

[Consort]

Wishful thinking? I think not. Arguing otherwise is, however, defeatist. And an insult to folks who come here legally.

• When do you estimate that your deportations will begin?
• Which party will initiate your deportations and commit political suicide?
• Who is going to round up all those illegals and put them in holding pens?
• What courts are going to hear all those appeals by individuals, the ACLU, Liberal Advocacy Groups, etc?
• Who is going to pay the court settlements when mistakes are made and legal immigrants are arrested, detained, smeared, etc?
• How many years do you estimate it will take to finally settle all those legal matters, and at what cost?
• What networks will film the trains, busses, etc carrying men, women and children across the country to the border and will cattle cars be used?
• Do you really think this can happen peacefully? with no civil unrest? no campus riots? no ghetto warfare?
• When the shooting starts, will the INS use real bullets or rubber bullets?

It looks like your wishful thinking is not only a bummer, but is very dangerous as well, and it will be branded as un-American.

[Budge]

If landlords would refuse to rent to mexicans on the basis that they are here illegally and therefore are criminals and are not good risks, then it would be solved even faster.

While I admire your stance and wish every business would follow your example, can you imagine the ruckus the democRATS would raise?

"Oh my, all those poor, homeless people who have no drivers license! We must provide more free housing, food, insurance, jobs for them, and by all means we should provide them with all the absentee voting ballots they want!"

It makes me sick.

[buccaneer81]

Did these cops check their brains in somewhere after becoming chiefs???

In many instances, police chief = politician, or at least future politician.

[JMP]

It looks like your wishful thinking is not only a bummer, but is very dangerous as well, and it will be branded as un-American...........
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Let me understand what you are saying, man. Like it's un-American to try to rectify a problem because it may be difficult, man. Wipe the snot off of your chin and quit cowering in the corner. Bummer indeed.

[hot august night]

You beat me to it!

[Consort]

Let me understand what you are saying, man.

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You sound like cheech...or is it Chong?...minus the charisma.

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Like it's un-American to try to rectify a problem because it may be difficult, man.

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It can't be undone, but that's way over your head. Unless the law was changed, children born here are US citizens, even if their parents are illegal. Are you going to tear families apart? If enough people think it's un-American, then it is un-American.

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Wipe the snot off of your chin and quit cowering in the corner. Bummer indeed.

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When and if you ever grow up, you will realize that you just can't wish away a process that has been ongoing for generations throughout the country. It's a bummer that you will have to live with and accept because you have no other choice. It's time for your nap.

[JMP]

(Jimer)It can't be undone, but that's way over your head. Unless the law was changed, children born here are US citizens, even if their parents are illegal. Are you going to tear families apart? If enough people think it's un-American, then it is un-American.......
.
Until the law is changed the illigals can make the decision to take their children with them or have them become wards of the state (they are anyway). Concerning your definition of un-American, polls have consistently shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans want this flow of illegals stopped and reversed. By your own definition packing up pedro and his minions is very American.
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Wipe the snot off of your chin and quit cowering in the corner..... (still stands).
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(Jimer) When and if you ever grow up, you will realize that you just can't wish away a process that has been ongoing for generations throughout the country. It's a bummer that you will have to live with and accept because you have no other choice. It's time for your nap.
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Nobody is talking about "wishing problems away". You solve the problem by enforcing laws and enacting penalties. Rape has been happenning since the dawn of man but I don't suggest that you should offer up your daughter to the rapists either. Real Bummer, huh.

[TheLion]

Thanks for the ping nic.

My feeling is, that if we can take the trouble to license illegal aliens, we can take the trouble to deport their @sses. Any other questions?

[sweetliberty]

I think that about says it all.

[Consort]

Until the law is changed the illigals can make the decision to take their children with them or have them become wards of the state (they are anyway).

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They can take the kids with them if they want to or they can stay here and, if necessary, fight it out in the courts for years. No one is going to take the kids away from them and no one is going to deport them.

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Concerning your definition of un-American, polls have consistently shown that an overwhelming majority of Americans want this flow of illegals stopped and reversed.

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I want all immigration stopped and all illegal immigration reversed. Neither will happen.

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By your own definition packing up pedro and his minions is very American.

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It doesn't matter if it's American or legal — it won't happen.

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Wipe the snot off of your chin and quit cowering in the corner..... (still stands).

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Of course. You're not going to gain maturity between posts.

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You solve the problem by enforcing laws and enacting penalties.

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Yes, but laws are not enforced all the time; they are often selectively enforced and, even then, it often depends on who you know or how much clout you have. We have a legal system, not a justice system.

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Rape has been happenning since the dawn of man but I don't suggest that you should offer up your daughter to the rapists either.

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Who would? Bubba got away with it.

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Real Bummer, huh.

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Exactly. What you want is not going to happen.

[JMP]

..........What you want is not going to happen...........
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Darn, maybe I should just role over, offer my new neighbors my spare bedrooms and learn to eat tocos and beans.
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Bummer

[Consort]

Darn, maybe I should just role over, offer my new neighbors my spare bedrooms and learn to eat tocos and beans.

You won't have to. White flight will give them whole neighborhoods, towns, and cities. It's happening now. As they gain political power, our Constitution will make it all legal.

[FreedomPoster]

My, but our DeKalb public officials have been on a tear this week. We've got this idiocy, and we've got a county commissioner proposing a smoking ban in all businesses, including restaurants.

[dansangel]

Kent said it makes no sense for the state to license people whose very presence violates federal law.

Very few of the elected officials in and around Atlanta make any sense. This is par for the course.

we've got a county commissioner proposing a smoking ban in all businesses, including restaurants.

Refer to my first comment. I think conservatives in GA were fooled by the shift of power after the November elections. We thought things would "get better." Well, the muck is so deep here, it's going to take YEARS to clean up the damage.

[Coto]

"...licensing them would lead them to buy auto insurance and learn the rules of the road..."

Yep - Sure - Works like that all of the time, here in Tennessee.......NOT !! !!

[Coto]

Here is the latest idea for 'Proof':

"...According to this report, the Mexican government says 61 U.S. banks and 798 U.S. police department accept the "matricula consular," a laminated card with a Mexican citizen's photo, name, address in the United States and date and place of birth in Mexico...."

I found that here (but there are a great deal many other locations that have information on them):

http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ea/chinaaliens/innewsaug02.htm