Posted on 05/19/2005 5:51:41 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
The latest attempt to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in California cleared a Senate committee on Thursday but with provisions that restrict how the licenses can be used and what they would look like.
The bill, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would bring California into compliance with federal law. The REAL ID Act, signed by President Bush last week, requires states to verify that people who apply for a driver's license are in the country legally.
It also allows states to choose whether to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as long as they have different markings — such as color or design — than a regular license. They also must clearly state that the license cannot be used as an official identification card.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Quit the pussy-footin'. Just say NO!
Here's the whole article from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050519-1554-ca-xgr-driverslicensebill.html
SACRAMENTO – The latest attempt to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in California cleared a Senate committee on Thursday but with provisions that restrict how the licenses can be used and what they would look like.
The bill, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would bring California into compliance with federal law. The REAL ID Act, signed by President Bush last week, requires states to verify that people who apply for a driver's license are in the country legally.
It also allows states to choose whether to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as long as they have different markings – such as color or design – than a regular license. They also must clearly state that the license cannot be used as an official identification card.
Cedillo was the author of a bill signed by Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 to allow driver's licenses for nearly 2 million illegal immigrants. The law became a flash point in the campaign to recall Davis from office. Shortly after he was elected, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger persuaded the Legislature to repeal it.
Schwarzenegger said he would work with Cedillo to create a license that didn't compromise security and carried a distinctive mark. Last year, he vetoed Cedillo's attempt to create such a license, saying it didn't provide adequate security protections.
Cedillo said he expects the governor "to be a man of his word" and support his latest attempt.
He said he wasn't happy with the federal act because it offered a "two-tier" licensing structure that he has opposed in the past. But he urged his colleagues on the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee to pass the bill because California licenses will not be valid for identification at airports or federal buildings if the state doesn't conform its driver's licenses to the federal law.
"It will make our highways safer," said Sen. Nell Soto, D-Pomona. "Many illegal immigrants already drive. Everyone who buys car insurance pays the price for uninsured drivers."
Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Northridge, disagreed.
"It's not an insurance issue," he said. "It's an illegal immigration issue."
The federal act permits states to offer a "driving only" type license to illegal immigrants, he said, but California isn't required to do so.
He also questioned the need to pass legislation adopting the federal language that won't take effect until January 2009, the deadline for the federal regulations to be drafted and adopted.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said it would be premature for the administration to take a position on Cedillo's bill because the federal government is still determining how the new law will be applied.
California, where immigrants make up a large part of the working class labor pool, has banned licensing illegal immigrant adult drivers for the past decade. A Field Poll released in March found that nearly two-thirds of California residents opposed the idea of extending driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Even some of the lawmakers who voted for the bill expressed doubts about the need to adopt the federal language so quickly. Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, said he was voting in favor of the bill but with "grave reservations" because officials with the California Highway Patrol and Department of Motor Vehicles hadn't weighed in on how the new licenses would be implemented.
The committee approved the bill 8-5, sending it to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
How can the illegals understand the road signs if they can't even speak English? I'm sick to death of all the forms that I have to fill out that are in English and Spanish side. I better not start seeing road signs in both languages!
I'm sure people will figure out what this type of license means.
What will the penalty be for having a phony D?L for I/D and one of these for driving?
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!
I wonder how many Republicans around the country the California Democrats helped elect with this and with other stupid stunts like trying to legalise unpopular gay marriage.
Can you spell STUPIDITY?
Same problem in California, according to a policeman friend. Hit and run accidents by hispanics, most likely illegal aliens, are a huge problem here. Most Mexican Americans follow the laws, the illegals don't.
Illinois comes in at #4 of states over run by illegals. Chicago is a Sanctuary City! You cannot ask illegals if they are illegal. Illinois hires illegals. Our jobs are over run with them. It is time to target the emmployers!
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