Thread: Audit rips N.C. for driver ID oversight: illegal alien Mecca

Report says practices draw illegal immigrants
Illegal immigrants can get a driver's license in North Carolina much more easily than in neighboring states, and that makes it a magnet for people in the country illegally, a state auditor's report says...

(illegal aliens, licenses, terrorists, laws, security, NC)

7/21/2005
DIANNE WHITACRE
Charlotte Observer

North Carolina is one of 11 states that do not require proof the driver is a U.S. citizen or in the country legally. And it is one of nine states accepting the easily obtained Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead of a Social Security number.

A new federal Real ID Act requires states to toughen rules on who can get a driver's license, including verifying they are U.S. citizens or in the country legally. States have three years to comply; if not, that state's residents cannot use their license to board a plane or receive a passport.

The law is an attempt to make sure each state can verify the identity of people who receive driver's licenses. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were carried out by terrorists who had fraudulently obtained Virginia licenses.

Two bills to toughen licensing rules were introduced in the N.C. legislature several months before President Bush signed the federal law in May, but both are stalled in committees.

The N.C. Department of Transportation is working with legislators on how to meet the federal law, spokeswoman Ashley Memory said. N.C. DOT operates the Division of Motor Vehicles.

North Carolina has issued 6.3 million license and ID cards, with an estimated 742,630 new cards to be issued this year.

The state has about 300,000 illegal immigrants, according to one study. But the audit does not estimate how many illegal immigrants have received an N.C. license.

"People know they can come to North Carolina to get their license. It's like giving out candy. This is a huge issue we need to confront," said Rep. John Rhodes, R-Cornelius. Rhodes co-sponsored a bill that would prohibit the state from accepting tax ID numbers if applicants cannot produce a Social Security number.

Many drivers, however, such as Charlotte resident Marcia Haye, complain that the rules are tough enough. On her second trip to the DMV on North Tryon Street, even though she had her son's birth certificate and Social Security card, she had to return with a bank statement proving his N.C. residency. "They're already really cracking down. It's hard now to get any sort of ID."

The 41-page report by state auditor Les Merritt says the DMV:

• Allows nonstate employees to serve as interpreters during driver's license tests, and those interpreters can give answers to applicants. N.C. DOT says it will work on changes.

• Has 19 one-person offices, which are a "significant security risk" in which the lone examiner could be harmed or license-printing equipment stolen. The auditor says those offices should be closed and replaced with visits from mobile DMV centers.

• Gives many license examiners out-of-date manuals.

• Should advise drivers they can avoid long waits by making appointments. The state says it will improve communications to workers and residents.

State Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett says the DMV will comply with the federal law. He says the state has already improved the security of its licenses by verifying Social Security numbers and using facial recognition techniques in its license photos to verify identities.

His office does not know what the changes will cost. Washington has set aside $100 million to help states comply with new rules, according to Rep. Sue Myrick's office.

License Laws Unlike North Carolina's

Nationally, 39 states force drivers to prove they are in the U.S. legally; 41 do not accept tax ID numbers in lieu of a Social Security number.

States Accepts tax ID in lieu of SSN Accepts Matricula Consular Must prove live in U.S. legally

NORTH CAROLINA Yes Yes* No
SOUTH CAROLINA No No Yes
GEORGIA No No Yes
TENNESSEE Yes Yes Yes
FLORIDA No No Yes
VIRGINIA No No Yes

SOURCE: Office of State Auditor* North Carolina accepts Matricula Consular as proof of state residency but not as proof of identification. The document is available from Mexican consultants and is accepted in nine states.

Comparison of States

Nationally, 39 states require drivers to prove they are in the country legally; 41 states do not accept a tax ID number if the applicant has no Social Security number.

http://www.alipac.us/article-562-thread-1-0.html

I want to see the NC legislators grow a backbone and start to passing legislation that will allow LOCAL law enforcement to ARREST, JAIL, AND TURN OVER ILLEGALS TO A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT WHO WILL DEPORT ILLEGALS. There is no excuse for not doing so. You Democratic NC legislators are a sorry lot and you should be run out of town for protecting illegals.

I HOPE YOU (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) ARE EXPOSED WHO ARE PROTECTING ILLEGALS AND CHARGED WITH AIDING AND ABETTING. I HOPE YOUR PUNISHMENT IS A LIFETIME IN A MEXICAN PRISON.

I'm tired of hearing about occurances of illegals having NO DRIVING LICENSES, NO INSURANCE, AND ILLEGAL DRIVING LICENSES. I'M TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT ILLEGALS RUNNING AWAY WHEN THEY RUN INTO US LEGALS BECAUSE THEY ARE DRUNK OR DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE.

LEGISLATORS DO YOUR DUTY OR GO HOME!