Thread: 10th state to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens

California governor to sign driver's license bill for illegal immigrants


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Brown said he approved of the measure, which its author had withdrawn on Thursday under the threat of a veto, capping a full day of lobbying by California politicians for immigration reform at the federal level.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

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Gov. Brown to sign bill giving immigrants licenses

The Associated Press
Last modified: 2013-10-03T04:41:55Z
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 - 9:40 pm

LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign a bill Thursday adding California to the growing list of states allowing immigrants in the country illegally to obtain driver licenses.

Immigrant advocates have long lobbied for the change in the nation's most populous state so immigrants can drive without fearing being pulled over for a ticket, which could wind up getting them deported.

"This is really a historic day for California," said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. "This is really simply about driving and ultimately about being able to engage in everyday activities that every American does."

Over the last two decades, immigrant advocates have pushed to get licenses restored in California.

The effort took on new significance in recent years as immigrants caught driving without a license began seeing their cars impounded and wound up being screened by federal immigration authorities for deportation.

Most states don't allow immigrants in the country illegally to obtain licenses. But a growing number, including Colorado and Oregon, have passed similar measures to issue marked licenses for driving purposes only.

In California, the bill authored by Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo would grant licenses to anyone who passes written and road tests, regardless of immigration status. The licenses would carry a distinction on the front of the card and state that the document may be used for driving, not as federal identification.

Several immigrant advocates initially raised concerns that the marker will contribute to racial profiling. The bill includes protections against discrimination.

State officials estimate 1.4 million drivers will apply for licenses under the law, which was supported by the state's Police Chiefs Association and insurance authorities.

It isn't clear whether entities like local government offices, libraries or banks will accept the license as a form of identification.

The licenses are expected to be issued starting in Jan. 2015.

It isn't the first time the California legislature passed a measure giving licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. Led by former Democratic state lawmaker and current Los Angeles city councilman Gil Cedillo, the legislature passed license bills that were struck down by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Under Brown, immigrant advocates saw a new opportunity to get a bill signed. The bill is one of several immigrant-friendly measures passed by the legislature this year, including overtime pay for domestic workers and an effort to scale back collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.

Brown has enjoyed strong support among Latino voters, whose numbers are growing in California, and appears to sense how the broader public has become more welcoming toward immigrants even as the debate over an immigration overhaul has stalled in Congress, said Jaime Regalado, emeritus professor of political science at California State University, Los Angeles.

"The timing seems to be there in a sense, and I think Brown is very good at understanding votes and understanding timing," Regalado said. "He wants to be ahead of the curve."

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/02/5789896/gov-brown-to-sign-bill-giving.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/02/578...#storylink=cpy

I give up on this state.

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Potential pitfalls as California hails new licenses for immigrants

"We need those living here and sharing our roads to be educated and insured."

--------------------------

There you have it.

Any questions?

"We need those living here and sharing our roads to be educated and insured."

Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME

--------------------------

There you have it.

Any questions?

I'd ask what then happens a year or 2 down the road and an IA that's pulled over still is unlicensed and uninsured?

I suspect the IA would be let off simply by saying he just got here.

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I'd ask what then happens a year or 2 down the road and an IA that's pulled over still is unlicensed and uninsured?

I suspect the IA would be let off simply by saying he just got here.

Probably same thing that happens now. They get a ticket and sometimes their car is towed and impounded if there isn't a licensed drive available to drive it away. If they don't pay the ticket the next time they get stopped they go to jail for unpaid fines.

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