10th state to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens
California governor to sign driver's license bill for illegal immigrants
http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources...=CBRE98C17HE00
California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at the 7th Annual California Hall of Fame induction ceremony at The California Museum in Sacramento, California March 20, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
By Sharon Bernstein
Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:39am EDT
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown said on Friday he would sign a bill authorizing the state to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, a last-minute reversal of his position.
Brown said he approved of the measure, which its author had withdrawn on Thursday under the threat of a veto, capping a full day of lobbying by California politicians for immigration reform at the federal level.
"This bill will enable millions of people to get to work safely and legally," Brown, a Democrat, said in an email sent to reporters shortly after midnight. "Hopefully it will send a message to Washington that immigration reform is long past due."
Over the past year, nine states and the District of Columbia have passed laws enabling undocumented immigrants to drive legally. In California, lawmakers and governors have routinely rebuffed such efforts.
Just on Thursday, Assemblyman Luis Alejo, a Democrat from the agricultural town of Salinas, told Reuters that he was withdrawing the bill he had written until next year, largely because of concerns expressed by Brown.
The governor, Alejo said, wanted to make sure the new licenses complied with federal law requiring them to clearly indicate the driver was undocumented.
For example, he said, Utah licenses for people who cannot show they are in the country legally bear the words "temporary visitor's driver license" on the front.
Alejo said he would prefer California's licenses to be more discreet, with small wording on the back indicating that the license was not to be used for identification purposes.
He withdrew the bill, promising to bring it up again next year. But late in the day on Thursday, just hours before the legislature recessed for the year, Alejo accepted amendments that would make the distinction more clear.
After Brown's objections were satisfied, both houses of the state legislature quickly passed the bill, with a number of Republicans joining the Democratic majority to vote for it.
It was approved by votes of 28-8 in the California Senate and 55-19 in the Assembly.
"We need those living here and sharing our roads to be educated and insured," said Republican state Senator Anthony Cannella. "There are both social and financial reasons to provide licenses to immigrants who are part of our communities."
Latino organizations and immigrant rights groups welcomed the measure.
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, called it "fundamental and way overdue."
Also on Thursday, Cannella led a group calling on Republicans in the U.S. Congress to take action on broader immigration reform.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...98C0OQ20130913
Showing Contempt For Its Citizens, California Issues Driver's Licenses To Illegals
Posted 10/04/2013 06:47 PM ET
investors.com
Immigration Policy: California's new law letting illegal aliens have driver's licenses represents a shift in ruling-class priorities from the interests of citizens to those of politically well-organized pressure groups.
As Spanish-speaking crowds chanted "Si, se pudo," — "Yes, we could" — Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed Assembly Bill 60, approving the issuance of licenses effective Jan. 1, 2015, to "people who by their fervor, their faith and their numbers transformed California."
They just happen to be citizens of other countries. This, despite the fact that Californians have repeatedly made clear their opposition to issuing licenses to people who have entered the country illegally.
Back in 2003, Gov. Gray Davis was recalled in part because he favored such legislation. The man who replaced him, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who otherwise bent like Gumby to every special interest during his two terms as governor, refused to give in on this one.
Assemblyman Gil Cedillo made 11 attempts to get the measure passed in the legislature, failing every time due to lack of popular support. And most significantly, Brown himself won office on explicit assurance he would not issue driver's licenses to illegals.
What we have here is a sea change — political leadership in California that no longer serves citizens but succors those with the loudest voices, citizen or not.
For Brown, aliens apparently are an even higher political priority than his beloved green lobby, given that the this lover of public transportation is encouraging illegals to drive pollution-spewing cars.
The measure also contradicts his carefully cultivated image as a fiscal moderate. Some $220 million will be needed to implement the law and fees illegals must pay will cover only half of it.
As a bone to legal residents, Brown claimed the pieces of paper issued to illegals will somehow make the state's highways and byways safer, a claim not borne out in nine other states that have done the same.
But what the new law is really about, Brown acknowledged, is granting illegals enough privileges to force their eventual legalization.
"This is only the first step," he told the cheering crowds, promising more changes and declaring that illegals would now be able to "go to work" despite laws that expressly forbid that.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editor...itizenship.htm