Thread: PA: Illegals protest need of SS# to drive in PA

Immigrants protest need of SS number to drive in Pa.

By DAVE DAVIES
Philadelphia Daily News

daviesd@phillynews.com 215-854-2595
Immigration lawyers say that PennDOT's plan to yank licenses from drivers without a valid Social Security number is unfairly penalizing immigrants who got licenses in the past without a Social Security card.

"It's devastating to them," said Philadelphia immigration lawyer Jon Landau. "These people are working, and many have jobs, like cleaning houses, which require them to use their car."

For the past two years, PennDOT has been checking the Social Security numbers in their driver's license files against numbers in Social Security Administration computers.

PennDOT recently sent 2,100 people letters telling them that their licenses are canceled as of June 19 unless they resolve the discrepancy. PennDOT spokeswoman Danielle Klinger said that those were the last of 45,000 such letters sent since 2007.

It's not clear how many of those affected are immigrants, but Landau said that it's big trouble for those who are.

"For many of these people, [a driver's license is] their only concrete identification," Landau said. "They use it to cash checks, to get on a plane, to enter buildings. Without it, they almost become a nonperson."

Many of Landau's clients are undocumented immigrants. Some have submitted applications for green cards. Others are waiting for immigration reform to offer them a path to legal residency.

But Landau said that many have driver's licenses because PennDOT has granted licenses to applicants without Social Security numbers if they had a federal tax-identification number - a number issued by the IRS that also has 10 digits.

"I got a license in 2000," said Gabriel, an immigrant who didn't want to use his real name. Gabriel is a carpenter in Northeast Philadelphia who came to the U.S. from Brazil with his parents 10 years ago. "When I got my license, they asked for my Social Security number, and I said the only thing I have is the tax-ID number, and they said that's OK."

Gabriel said that he was a legal resident with a visitor's visa when he got his license, and that PennDOT renewed it twice without asking any questions.

Klinger said that current PennDOT officials "honestly don't know" whether there was a policy of accepting tax-identification numbers in the past. But she said that since 2003, PennDOT has been checking new applicants for Social Security numbers except for certain limited exceptions.

And it's clear that undocumented workers like Gabriel would not qualify for a license now.

Gabriel said that he uses his car to get to his construction jobs, as well as to take his wife to work, get groceries and go to church.

"I'm afraid now they'll cancel my insurance and registration and tow my car away," he said.

There's a national debate about whether states should issue driver's licenses to undocumented workers, to make sure that their cars are registered and insured.

Landau said that it makes sense for PennDOT not to issue licenses to newly arriving immigrants who lack documentation.

"But it makes no sense at all to reach back and attack the half-million undocumented immigrants living in the Philadelphia area by taking away their driver's licenses," Landau said. "They take care of our elderly and our children, they clean our houses and they keep our restaurants running. When we cripple them, we cripple our economy."

A group of Philadelphia immigration lawyers are meeting tomorrow to consider a response to the PennDOT initiative. *

Buzz up! Buzz this story.

LINK ?

It's not clear how many of those affected are immigrants, but Landau said that it's big trouble for those who are.

"For many of these people, [a driver's license is] their only concrete identification," Landau said. "They use it to cash checks, to get on a plane, to enter buildings. Without it, they almost become a nonperson."

Many of Landau's clients are undocumented immigrants. Some have submitted applications for green cards. Others are waiting for immigration reform to offer them a path to legal residency.

There it is, in black and white. "They use it (license) to cash checks, to get on a plane, to enter buildings.." HELLO Landau? Illegal aliens have NO LEGAL status here, therefore why should they be entitled to legal US documents?!

This would be a cake-walk for ICE. Driver's licences for those not having SSNs and still haven't gotten them, or showing proof that the person is legally in the country should send up a mushroom cloud--if the state decides to share that info. Driving is a privilege, not a right, especially when you are getting to a job which pays less than a citizen will receive, a job you are not allowed to do or are entitled to.

This guy must think that the best way to get a burglar out of your house is handing them an armchair.

jamesw62 wrote:

LINK ?

Yeah, what he said.

Immigration lawyers say that PennDOT's plan to yank licenses from drivers without a valid Social Security number is unfairly penalizing immigrants who got licenses in the past without a Social Security card



Really? And just when in the hell was that allowed to happen?

We lived for a time in PA and when I went in to switch my license over from VA guess what?

I had to prove who I was.....including SS card......take the written test AND hand over my out of state license and any other ID I might have had issued by another state because it was against the law for me to possess that.

Did the requirements change and they now want to change it back again?

Originally Posted by MW

jamesw62 wrote:

LINK ?

Yeah, what he said.

Philadelphia Daily News (click here)

Thank you for the source link Tom2.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4292--0-0.html

Many of Landau's clients are undocumented immigrants.

Mmm...Bread and Butter.
:P

"But it makes no sense at all to reach back and attack the half-million undocumented immigrants living in the Philadelphia area by taking away their driver's licenses," Landau said.

So if I get away with passing bad checks for a period of time when I am caught I should get a free pass and not do it again?


Don't you just hate it when you can't comment at the source.