Free Republic

A Virginia man who worked as a manager at a Department of Motor Vehicles office at Springfield Mall and his wife, a former DMV clerk, were arrested yesterday by federal agents on charges of selling valid driver's licenses for as much as $3,500 each -- mostly to illegal aliens. U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said Francisco J. Martinez, 57, and his wife, Miriam, 56, both of Stafford, Va., have been charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud and conspiracy to produce Virginia driver's licenses by fraud, both felonies. If convicted, they could get 15 years in prison and fines totaling...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Sen. Gil Cedillo is making his fifth attempt in seven years to enact legislation allowing illegal immigrants to get California driver's licenses. This time he's hoping to get a governor's signature that will stick. Former Gov. Gray Davis signed a Cedillo bill legalizing the licenses in 2003, but lawmakers overturned it after Davis was recalled following a campaign in which the license legislation was one of the issues used against him. Davis' successor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed the repeal bill and vetoed another version of the license bill last year, saying it didn't include adequate security...

Fraud shock for illegal drivers May 15 2005 08:11:00:000PM By: Lizel Steenkamp       Drivers licence co dodgy - DA   Fake drivers licences cancelled   'Licence dealer' gets four years   Licences: Process to blame   Over 50% of new licences invalid   Johannesburg - Insurance companies and banks could bring fraud charges against millions of motorists who launched claims and had financing approved for vehicle purchases on the grounds of an invalid licence. A senior transport official told Rapport, sister publication of Finance24, that about 3.5 million motorists, who obtained their driver's licences illegally, might escape...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox called recent U.S. measures to stem illegal immigration a step back for bilateral relations on Friday and said Mexican migrants do jobs "that not even blacks want to do." In comments likely to raise the temperature of the immigration debate, Fox defended the role of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States to a group of Texas business people meeting in Mexico. "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States," he...

A Video of Lou Dobbs interviewing, Peter Gadiel (PRESIDENT, 9/11 FAMILIES FOR A SECURE AMERICA) DOBBS: "We talked, of course, as we have a number of times, with the consulate of Mexico. They said that the card you have they simply wanted to let you know that it was invalid and they have a far more secure one now. GADIEL: "Right. Well, I took care of that problem. Hal Netkin (ph), a friend of mine out in California, got me -- got me a new one. And while I was in the process, he also got you one." DOBBS: "Oh,...

The Real ID Act, which the Senate approved yesterday, would make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain identification that the federal government will recognize when they try to board an airplane, fill out tax forms or open a bank account. But the measure would affect U.S. citizens as well. Americans would need an authentic copy of their birth certificate to apply for a new driver's license or renew an old one. The certificates must be verified at the counter by a Department of Motor Vehicles agent, along with other identification, such as Social Security numbers and utility bills....

ANNAPOLIS -- An immigration rights group says the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is violating state law by denying driver's licenses to illegal aliens... ...Maryland law does not bar illegal aliens from receiving driver's licenses, and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has killed legislation to change that over the past several years... ...More than 20 states have laws prohibiting illegal aliens from obtaining driver's licenses. Virginia recently enacted such restrictions in response to public outrage that its lax security enabled the September 11, 2001, hijackers to obtain state IDs...

(Hartford-AP, Apr. 25, 2005 Updated 2:00 PM) _ Efforts to put limits on driver's licenses issued to non-citizen state residents are being scuttled. The legislature's Government Administration and Elections Committee today defeated a bill that would have required the motor vehicles commissioner to issue limited-term licenses or ID cards to non-citizens. The term of the license would coincide with how long a non-citizen is living legally in the U.S.. The bill also required applicants for commercial driver's licenses to provide evidence they are living legally in Connecticut. Proponents of the bill say such restrictions are needed to help combat terrorism....

FAA licensed 5 arrested at TIMCO 3-24-05 By Taft Wireback, Staff Writer News & Record GREENSBORO -- Five of those arrested on immigration charges at TIMCO two weeks ago had high-level repair licenses from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating how they qualified for licensing tests, the agency said Wednesday. FAA administrators are looking into documents used by the five in seeking the right to test for Airframe and Powerplant certification, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The A&P license allows mechanics to work on the more complex parts of a plane. "To our knowledge, they all passed the written,...

The contractors came by the dozens to the two San Jose houses, offering up estimates for painting, kitchen remodeling and landscaping. But the homeowners who welcomed their bids weren't who they appeared to be. They really were investigators for the state's contractors licensing board, carrying out an undercover sting this week -- a sting that nabbed 59 unlicensed builders. Those nabbed by the ruse were given criminal citations that could land them in jail for a maximum of six months, or they could be ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. A first offense for being unlicensed usually draws two years...

I recently read about a very disturbing incident that happened just last week — literally in my own back yard. Federal agents arrested 27 illegal immigrants at the Piedmont/Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, not very far from where I live. What were these guys doing when they were arrested? They were working on commercial jet airliners! You know, like the ones that al Qaeda terrorists flew into the Twin Towers on 9-11. This strikes me as a pretty lax approach to national security. These 27 men originally came from a variety of countries, including Sudan, Chile, Peru, Zimbabwe,...

Rare indeed is the occasion when litigation even tangentially involving hot dogs reaches the level of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. In recognition of just such an infrequent event, I traveled to Oakland Monday to see Gene Scott. Better known as Scottie to his faithful clientele, he sells hot dogs, kielbasa and other grilled goodies from a large cart outside of the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library. Three years ago, Scott, a 50-something Homewood resident, filed a lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court challenging the constitutionality of a 2000 city law regulating vendors. Scott sued after City Council failed to...

(New York -WABC, March 13, 2005) — Teens who alter their driver licenses to buy alcohol would lose all driving privileges until they turn 21 under a law proposed today by Governor George Pataki and Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro....

Until Wednesday, 11 states issued driver licenses to illegal immigrants. On Wednesday, Utah's governor signed a bill that denies such immigrants licenses, offering them instead readily distinguishable "driving privilege cards." Utah's action points to a national wave of public concern about issuing to illegal immigrants a license to do far more than drive. It's a wave, too, that will become a veritable tsunami if federal legislation that just passed the House of Representatives makes it, as it should, through the Senate. In that event, states may continue to issue driver licenses to illegal immigrants, but driver licenses from those states...

20 suspects carried N.C. licenses 3-10-05 By Taft Wireback Staff Writer News & Record GREENSBORO — Most of the aircraft workers arrested Tuesday on immigration charges at Piedmont Triad International Airport were carrying North Carolina driver’s licenses they shouldn’t have been issued. Twenty of 24 suspected, illegal immigrants had N.C. licenses, highlighting a continuing problem that state government has been unable to vanquish, said Thomas O’Connell of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “That’s not uncommon. Practically everybody we arrest has a North Carolina driver’s license on them,” said O’Connell, resident agent in charge of ICE’s Piedmont Triad office. O’Connell’s agency...

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) - Thieves rammed a vehicle through the back wall of a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles office and stole 1,700 blank driver's licenses. "This could be anything from a bunch of juveniles who want to be able to make IDs to buy beer, to major criminal activity or even terrorism," police spokesman Tim Bedwell said Tuesday. "We don't know what they took them for." The theft occurred early Monday in a remote industrial area, authorities said. The thieves took blank licenses and laminated covers, a digital license camera, a camera computer and a license printer,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - By a wide margin, Californians oppose granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, according to a poll released Friday. A Field Poll showed that 62 percent of state residents oppose granting the licenses, while 35 percent favor the idea. The poll also found that 49 percent support issuing a different kind of license to illegal immigrants, with 48 percent opposed. The survey found a large ethnic divide on the question. Three out of four white, non-Hispanics said they are opposed to issuing regular driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, while Hispanics favor the idea by a two-to-one margin. Of...

CHULA VISTA – A 33-year-old man admitted in Superior Court yesterday that he ran down a Chula Vista woman who was out for her morning walk. Daniel Antonio Orantes-Castro pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter in the Nov. 18 death of Akiko Koehler, 60. Judge Wesley R. Mason scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 23. Prosecutor Terri Wyatt said no promises were made to Orantes-Castro in exchange for his guilty plea. She said the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. Castro was driving a Ford F-150 pickup in a westbound lane of J Street around 8:30 a.m. when he...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Do illegal immigrants have a right to obtain a driver's license? In Iowa, the answer from the state Supreme Court is: no. The court on Friday upheld a judge's ruling in Polk County. The Iowa Department of Transportation requires applicants for a driver's license to show proof of identity and a Social Security card. The attorney for a group of immigrants had argued that the policy violates their right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers in 10 states have passed legislation permitting licenses for undocumented aliens.

NATIONAL ID EMERGING DESPITE OPPOSITIONFeb 09, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.comby Michael J. RossThe overhaul of the U.S. federal intelligence system that began taking effect in December of 2004, will do more than create a new national intelligence czar and increase U.S. border patrols. It is also intended to make it more difficult for terrorists to obtain the identity cards needed to board commercial aircraft -- by requiring states to follow federal standards for the driver's licenses that they issue to their residents. In particular, the new intelligence legislation would mandate that state driving licenses would have to conform to federal standards...