Free Republic

ATLANTA -- A state lawmaker from Marietta is sponsoring a bill that seeks to do away with Georgia driver's licenses. State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, has filed House Bill 7, calling it the "Right to Travel Act." In his bill, Franklin states, "Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right." Franklin told CBS Atlanta News that driver's licenses are...

The number of people from outside the state getting drivers licenses in Washington last year jumped by more than 30,000 over the previous year, according to numbers kept by the state Department of Licensing. Records show 159,501 out-of-staters obtained licenses last year. In 2009, there were 129,323, which was a drop of 11,071 from the previous year. One state analyst says the 2010 increase may be one sign of economic recovery in Washington. "In-migration improved in 2010 for economic reasons," said Alice Vogel, an economic analyst with the Licensing Dept. "We may have had more jobs or more affordable housing;...

People from all over the country — make that the world — are traveling to New Mexico not just for its tourist attractions or green chile. They are also coming for driver's licenses. Police have arrested a growing number of suspected undocumented immigrants who have traveled from as far as China to fraudulently obtain New Mexico licenses. They are drawn by a 2003 law that makes New Mexico one of only three states that does not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. Take Shu Sheng Lui, who told a State Police officer arresting her Wednesday that she had flown...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A group of Brazilians has been busted for trying to get New Mexico driver's licenses illegally. State police moved in on the group of men after a Motor Vehicle Division worker noticed one of the suspects had been there before. The three Brazilian men face serious charges after state police and the state's tax fraud investigators division busted the men at the MVD downtown on Friday. "One of the investigators down there with the Office of Inspector General recognized an individual who had been in there numerous times over the last year," Major Pete Kassetas said. Kassetas...

... Pavel felt like something big was coming, so he opened up a bag of honey wheat braid pretzels – Pockets’ favorite – that he’d been hiding in case of an opportunity like this. He pushed the bag across the table to the old man, and asked him to clarify. “In 1993, we finally passed the Motor Voter Act, requiring that almost all states (a few had their own constitutional justifications to be exempted) hafta allow people to be registered to vote, if they want to be, while they’re buying or renewing their driver’s licenses. Most folks figure that their...

Having to carry a passport to fly out of the Sunport after the New Year is still weighing heavily on the minds of many New Mexicans. Because New Mexico issues driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, come Jan. 1, state licenses won't comply with the REAL ID law and won't be accepted at airports.

SANTA ROSA — A former Santa Rosa DMV clerk has lost an appeal of her conspiracy conviction for helping undocumented immigrants obtain state drivers licenses or ID cards for hefty fees. A jury convicted Aida Pulido, 49, and an accomplice in May 2008 of one count of conspiracy and four counts of obtaining false DMV documents. Pulido was sentenced to 16 month in prison. Witnesses testified that her accomplice, Teofilo Arechiga Palomera, 62, of Pittsburg, would find Latinos who had no proof of legal residency — many of whom lived outside Sonoma County — and promise them a valid state...

Few places in Virginia are as draining to the soul and as numbing to the buttocks as the branch offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles. And yet, until recently, smiling was still permitted there. No more. As part of the DMV's effort to develop super-secure driver's licenses and foolproof identification cards, the agency has issued a smile ban, directing customers to adopt a "neutral expression" in their portraits, thereby extinguishing whatever happiness comes with finally hearing one's number called. The driver's license photo, it seems, is destined to look like a mug shot. DMV officials say the smile ban...

Illegal immigrants in the Bay State could be issued driver’s licenses under a controversial amendment tucked inside the house’s comprehensive transportation reform bill yesterday. Minority Leader Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading) blasted the measure - which could come up for a vote today - saying undocumented aliens could use their driver’s licenses to try to vote or to board planes illegally. “I don’t think this is the time or place for this,” Jones said. “If you’re here illegally, this driver’s license could be a breeder document to get so many other things.”

Talk radio’s Rush Limbaugh and Democratic firebrand Rahm Emanuel agree on one thing: Barack Obama’s presidency could alter America for decades. Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff, recently told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that the financial meltdown provides an opportunity “to do things that Americans have pushed off for years.” Limbaugh offered the contrary view, with this warning: “We're about to see an encroachment by the left that will take a generation to roll back.” Here are a “dirty dozen” changes Team Obama is most likely to enact. Ratings Key [1 to 10 scale]: Probability Likelihood that the measure...

Obama plans to give Driver's Licenses to Illegal Aliens. It's about time some of these ads start running - now let's run them in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Indiana! Run ads showing Obama saying he will give Driver's License to Illegal Immigrants!!!! Run ads showing Obama saying he will give Driver's License to Illegal Immigrants!!!!

A California bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses is one step closer to becoming a state law. State senate bill 60 passed through the assembly Friday. If the bill becomes law, legislators say the estimated 2.2 million undocumented immigrants in California will apply for one, an idea that's creating a lot of controversy. "I think they should be able to get licenses just like everybody else," said Nicole Holland, a Fresnan who supports the bill. "They are already committing a crime coming over here," said Albert Ratliff, a Fresnan who opposes the bill. "I don't think...

Almost $3,000 [was] the price illegal immigrants from Brazil were apparently willing to pay two Russian-speaking organizers of a scheme to get them New Mexico licenses. Court documents filed Thursday charged James Kulekhov and Anastissiya Galiullina, with illegally transporting eight Brazilian nationals from Newark, N.J., to New Mexico for the purpose of obtaining state driver's licenses. Galiullina is from Kazakhstan and overstayed her visa. She needed a Russian interpreter for court proceedings Wednesday. Agents were still trying to figure out Kulekhov's true identity. ... Kulekhov and Galiullina are scheduled to be arraigned this morning in federal court. Two of the...

Democratic Debate on CNN 11-15-2007...

Gov. Martin O'Malley's decision to cooperate with the Bush administration on Real ID is a mistake. The decision turns clerks at Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration into immigration officers, forcing them to ask prospective drivers about their immigration status and then assess the validity of documents - a troublesome chore even for well-trained immigration officers. Moreover, Real ID will push illegal immigrants further into the shadows, where they will be deterred from reporting crimes to police or using emergency rooms. Because those who drive will not have a license or liability insurance, the risk for all drivers will likely increase. Although...

Deadline's up to make sure BMV, Social Security records match. The The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles says it will revoke the driver's licenses of up to 56,000 people across the state in coming weeks. They are among the 206,000 people who had received letters in November saying the information on their licenses didn't match Social Security records. Thursday was the deadline to fix the mismatched data -- be it their name, gender, date of birth or Social Security number. The whole effort -- a comparison of the BMV's 6.4 million records with those of Social Security -- had raised...

ama Defends Driver's Licenses for Illegals in Interview with ABC News February 02, 2008 1:57 PM ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told ABC's David Muir Saturday that his support for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants will not block his path to the White House because he and G.O.P. frontrunner John McCain share substantial overlap on immigration. "I think they will pounce on any issue that has to do with immigration," said Obama, referring to Republicans, "but my position has been very similar to John McCain's, who's may be the likely Republican nominee, and if he wants...

Doyle McManus, Washington Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times, and one of the three members of the mainstream media who asked questions at Thursday night’s Democratic presidential debate on CNN, neglected to mention Hillary Clinton’s previous waffling on the subject of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants when he asked the former First Lady about the issue. "Senator Clinton, Senator Obama has said that he favors allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, and you opposed that idea. Why?" As CNSNews Editor-in-Chief Terry Jeffrey noted after the November 15, 2007 Democratic debate (where Clinton answered that she did not support...

Washington -- Sen. Barack Obama easily won the African American vote in South Carolina, but to woo California Latinos, where he is running 3-to-1 behind rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, he is taking a giant risk: spotlighting his support for the red-hot issue of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. It's a huge issue for Latinos, who want them. It's also a huge issue for the general electorate, which most vehemently does not. Obama's stand could come back to haunt him not only in a general election, but with other voters in California, where driver's licenses for illegal immigrants helped...

Michigan will no longer let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses, a practice just seven other states continue to allow. Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who oversees the state motor vehicle department, announced the new policy Monday and said it takes effect Tuesday. Some people who are in Michigan legally but not permanent residents also will be denied licenses unless state law is changed. The change is aimed at complying with an opinion issued last month by Attorney General Mike Cox, who said granting licenses to illegal immigrants is inconsistent with federal law. Opinions by the attorney general's office...