Free Republic

A bill that would call on the state to allow undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses is set to come before the City Council this week. The legislation, which City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez plans to introduce Wednesday, makes the case that undocumented immigrants should be able to get the IDs because it would make for safer roads. “I believe that the State of New York has a great opportunity, not only to challenge President Trump, but also lead by example, and that's what I've been advocating for for years,” Rodriguez said. “By allowing them to have their driver’s license, it...

Randall Marquis has lived in California for 31 years, but he knew it was a mistake when he received a notice last month that said he was newly registered to vote. He may have a state driver’s license, but he’s a citizen of Canada. “When I saw that card, I just threw it out,” Marquis said. “I know I’m not going to vote. I’m not allowed to vote, it’s stupid that I should be registered to vote.” The Newport Beach resident, who has a green card and is married to a U.S. citizen, was one of some 1,500 people who...

The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday said it has discovered it sent the Secretary of State’s Office 23,000 erroneous voter registrations. The agency said the errors occurred within the state’s Motor Voter program — which allows eligible applicants getting a driver license to be automatically registered to vote.

Michael MacDonald was riding his bicycle near Los Angeles’ Miracle Mile when he was allegedly struck by a honking Mercedes driver who fled the scene in March of 2015. The collision at San Vicente Boulevard and Masselin Avenue, which involved the car’s side mirror, left the architect lying in the middle of the street dazed and hurting. He was hospitalized with minor injuries, including abrasions and leg pain. Although a witness in another car was able to follow the Mercedes and jot down the license plate number, no arrests were made and no charges were ever filed.

Beginning in January, Pennsylvania residents will no longer be to use their driver’s licenses to enter federal buildings, and one year later, they won’t be able to use their licenses to board a commercial airplane, the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a letter to the Transportation Department, which was released on Thursday. […] That’s because Pennsylvania — and five other states — failed to comply with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005, a law that called for improved security measures in the wake of 9/11 which would make IDs counterfeit-proof and would store photos and other...

California's roadways just got a lot more crowded - with illegal immigrants. Nearly half of all new non-commercial licenses issued in California in 2015 went to illegal immigrants. A new Department of Motor Vehicles program granted 605,000 new drive's licenses out of 1.4 million to illegal immigrants. "This was a major undertaking and never before had the department implemented a program such as this one," Artemio Armenta, spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, told the Orange County Register Jan. 8. "We were surprised, but not unprepared." A local member of the Tea Party Patriots told the newspaper that California's...

The U.S. Postal Service will be hosting passport fairs around New Mexico as residents brace for identification requirements to take effect early next year.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently denied New Mexico an extension from tougher federal requirements on state driver’s licenses under the REAL ID Act.The decision means New Mexico driver’s licenses and IDs won’t be valid for federal purposes such as entering military bases and nuclear research labs starting Jan. 10. As a result, residents are seeking passports as an alternative.

Robert Rubin, president and CEO of Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, says the federal government's decision to clamp down on the use of New Mexico driver's licenses to access federal facilities starting in January could potentially shut down his 600-employee business. He's not alone. "This could just be a disaster for a company like mine," said Bill Miera, president and CEO of the 143-employee engineering firm Fiore, which manages research and development contracts with Sandia National Laboratories and with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base. "If we couldn't get on base, we'd have to stop work, because...

If you don’t have a passport already, you may need to get one soon. Residents of certain states are going to need to show their passports — rather than simply their IDs — even if they’re only flying domestic. Yes, it will infringe upon states’ rights handed to them by the 10th Amendment and create unnecessary cost to taxpayers in order to implement the change, but let’s be real — the government doesn’t care about that. From Zero Hedge: To comply with the 2005 Real ID Act, which the U.S. government has been slowly implementing for the past decade, citizens in a...

A wrong-way driver on State Road 60 in Plant City triggered a four-vehicle crash that led to the death of a Lakeland man late Friday, authorities said. Jonathan Molina, 24, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died from his injuries, authorities said. Charges are pending against Avimael Hernandez-Sargento, 37, of Lake Worth, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He and his passenger, Omar I. Hernandez, 26, of Lake Worth, sustained serious injuries and were taken to TGH, troopers said. Hernandez-Sargento was tested for alcohol use, troopers said. At 11:04 p.m., Hernandez-Sargento was driving his 2000 GMC Sierra pickup...

SNIP ...the women stole a purse from a dance studio on Wednesday and then within 30 minutes made a false New Mexico driver's license. Surveillance video showed the women using the stolen credit card to make purchases at drug store and a grocery store. Police said the operation is new to them and that it's surprising the women were able to produce a fake driver's license so quickly. SNIP

Unpaid traffic fines and mushrooming fees have left 4.2 million Californians with suspended driver’s licenses — more than one-sixth of the licenses issued statewide — with poor people the hardest-hit, according to a newly published study that criticizes policies that take drivers off the road because of debts they can’t pay.

California has issued 110,000 drivers licenses to immigrants in the country without permission since a new law went into effect last month, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.. Applicants must pass a written exam and a behind-the-wheel test. Those who are successful are given special licenses that state that they are "not acceptable for official federal purposes," such as boarding an airplane.California became one of 10 states that allow immigrants in the country illegally to apply for special licenses on Jan. 2, when a new law, known as AB 60, took effect.

New Mexico voters continue their long-standing opposition to a 2003 law that allows the state to issue driver’s licenses to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, a new Journal Poll found. Seven in 10 registered voters surveyed last week said they opposed the law – results that mirror those of earlier Journal Polls. Respondents were asked: “Do you support or oppose New Mexico’s state law that allows driver’s licenses to be issued to immigrants who are in the country illegally?” Support is strongest among Democrats, Hispanics and younger voters, the poll showed. But even among those groups, a majority...

Opponents say New Mexico has become a haven for those seeking to fraudulently obtain driver's licenses. "These fraud operations involve the trafficking of humans to our state for the purpose of committing crimes; and with no intention to live here, they snatch up our license to take elsewhere, to places unknown and for purposes unknown," said Mike Lonergan, spokesman for Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor and a rising figure in the Republican Party, has been pushing to repeal the driver's license law since she was first elected in 2010. The governor and others have said...

The right to determine who is issued a driver license is reserved for the states - not the federal government or an unelected judiciary If anyone in America has suspicions that communism, in the more friendly, yet more deviously illegal, form called Socialism is commandeering our civil rights, in fact, ALL of our rights, he or she is absolutely spot on target. Without a miniscule of legislation put forth by our law-making branch of government, the Legislative Branch AKA Congress, we are being trussed like slaves and unjustly pilloried from the most unlikely of places, the Judiciary Branch of our...

Enough is enough. An important bloc of voters made their voices heard on Tuesday. Their message: Quit rewarding people who violate our immigration laws. They chose a sovereign nation over an illegal alien sanctuary nation, and they told politicians in both parties loud and clear: Put Americans first. Will D.C. listen? These voters are tired of politicians creating magnets for illegal immigrants. They're tired of preferential treatment for defiant border-crossers, visa overstayers and deportation fugitives. They're tired of the heavy costs and consequences of the government's systemic refusal to protect its borders and fully implement interior enforcement. Pay attention, both...

Colorado’s Department of Motor Vehicles mistakenly issued U.S. citizen driver’s licenses to 524 non-citizens, including some illegal immigrants, CBS4 has learned. The licenses look like those given to state residents. The DMV blamed a software problem at a contractor, who is working with DMV to retrieve the licenses and re-issue correct IDs. ... When the DMV announced it would issue appointments to non-citizens to receive licenses, calls and online orders deluged its offices. Tens of thousands reportedly contacted the DMV to register ... RELATED: Non-Citizen Driver’s Licenses Bogging Down Colorado DMV. Those in the country illegally or without a Social...

Appeals Court Rules Immigrant ‘Dreamers’ Can Get Driver’s Licenses A federal appeals court ruled Monday that young adult illegal immigrants whom President Obama has given tentative permission to be in the country — so-called “Dreamers” — are also entitled to driver’s licenses, and... By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times A federal appeals court ruled Monday that young adult illegal immigrants whom President Obama has given tentative permission to be in the country — so-called “dreamers” — are also entitled to driver’s licenses and ordered Arizona to issue them. The ruling comes while the government is debating policy about a new wave...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As California prepares to issue driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally, residents sounded off Tuesday on what documents should be accepted as proof of identity and residency in the state. At a packed hearing in Los Angeles, scores of immigrants urged the Department of Motor Vehicles to expand the list of acceptable documents to include church and children's school records, which may be easier for some people to obtain. "As a homemaker, we don't get a membership card or a pay stub," said Martha Escandon, 42, whose Mexican immigrant family obtained legal papers in...