Illegal Immigration: Americans Fighting Back - Illegal Aliens Receiving Licenses and Voter Registration in NC

Tighten lax N.C. rules on driver's licenses

It's too easy for illegal immigrants to obtain important identity card

TOM ASHCRAFT

Special to the Observer
Topics: Americans, Licenses, Laws, Senate, Republican, Democrat, Illega Immigration, NC

For millions of people in and out of the country, America is the Promised Land. Despite politicians who daily try to throttle it, the U.S. economy provides a level of prosperity and opportunity unmatched in the rest of the world.

What single possession gives one entrÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â©e into this amazing economy? Strangely, it turns out to be what most 15-year-olds pine for and most 16-year-olds have: a driver's license issued by a state government.

Not only does this document get you legally behind the wheel on the nation's roads, but it also paves the way to banking and check-cashing, buying groceries and other merchandise on credit, helping to verify employment eligibility, renting apartments and cars, traveling by air and rail, and entering some public buildings. A driver's license, even if you don't own or operate a motor vehicle, has become the indispensable identity card for entry into American economic life.

Illegal aliens, numbering about 10 million or more in the United States today, know this and routinely seek driver's licenses. In a handful of states, illegals are actually allowed to obtain some kind of driving privilege. In most, however, illegals must resort to a measure of fraud to get a driver's license.

In California there is a perennial row over authorizing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis both vetoed and signed such legislation, partly fueling his recall from office. Last month Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a driver's license bill which would have made 2 million illegal immigrants in California eligible for driving permits. In his veto message, Schwarzenegger pointed to security of citizens as his chief concern.

The 19 hijackers of the four 9-11 flights had 63 driver's licenses from various states including California, Florida, Virginia and New Jersey. The 9-11 Commission Report, issued nearly three years after the attack, recommended: "Secure identification should begin in the United States. The federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses."

According to Peter Gadiel of 9-11 Families for a Secure America, who lost his 23-year-old son Jamie in 9-11, some states have tightened up and some have done virtually nothing since 9-11. Among the good states he counts South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and New York. Among the worst is North Carolina.

State Sen. Fern Shubert, a Union County Republican, has been a leader in the N.C. General Assembly in seeking reform of driver's license rules. But she has been on the losing side of battles with Democratic Gov. Mike Easley's administration and Democratic legislative leaders.

Before 9-11, based in part on an opinion from the office of then-N.C. Attorney General Easley, DMV issued driver's licenses to applicants even though they could not produce a valid Social Security number (SSN). DMV assigned them the number 999-99-9999. Estimates are that some 400,000 such licenses were issued.

On Sept. 26, 2001, shortly after 9-11, then-Gov. Easley signed legislation theoretically tightening up this situation. If you didn't have a SSN, you could substitute an affidavit provided by DMV plus an IRS taxpayer identification number.

But in 2003 Shubert turned up a letter from the IRS warning states that use of taxpayer identification numbers was not a secure form of identification and should be stopped. This left egg on Easley's face, so a new administrative tightening-up was announced. Starting Feb. 2, 2004, SSN's would be "validated" with the Social Security Administration before a license would be issued -- such checking apparently not routine in the past. For applicants without a SSN, however, they're still able to use an IRS taxpayer identification number so long as they swear they're not eligible for an SSN.

Unlike Virginia and other states with strict requirements, there is, according to Gadiel, nothing in N.C. law which requires a person applying for a driver's license to have a "legal presence" in the state. This omission, he says, encourages more illegal immigration and compounds the problem of locating terrorists among the illegal population.

Further, under the federal motor voter law, getting a new driver's license is a fast track to voter registration. Last month the Federation for American Immigration Reform called on the N.C. State Board of Elections to make sure illegal aliens with driver's licenses have not become registered voters.

We need a legislature with the will to straighten out the driver's license mess. Ironically, though, unless the elections board acts quickly, who controls next year's General Assembly may turn on a critical number of votes improperly cast by illegal immigrants with N.C. driver's licenses.

Tom Ashcraft -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Observer columnist Tom Ashcraft is a Charlotte lawyer. Write him c/o The Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308, or by e-mail at TAshcraft@compuserve.com.

I've read enough. I'm ready to join the fight against illegal immigration.