http://www.app.com/article/20090106/...1/1029/OPINION

Deny privileges to illegal aliens
January 6, 2009

A panel advising Gov. Jon Corzine on immigration issues is considering recommending "driver privilege cards" and in-state college discounts for undocumented immigrants. State lawmakers, who would have to sign off on both ideas legislatively, should make it clear the recommendations would fall on deaf ears.

As the Corzine administration prepares to make cuts in municipal aid and reduce services available to New Jersey's legal residents, it would be unconscionable to send out the welcome wagon for those who are here illegally, putting further strain on schools, hospitals and social services.

Extending privileges to those who broke the law to get here — and continue breaking the law by staying — sends all the wrong messages. It tacitly endorses illegal residency and violating federal laws, and it serves notice on other immigrants that the benefits of entering this country unlawfully are well worth the risks.

The illegal immigration problem has been largely ignored by the federal government, which has the responsibility for dealing with it. The Corzine administration should be pressing Washington to get a handle on the problem rather than developing state policies that will only make it worse.

When Corzine created the immigration panel, which is expected to discuss its draft recommendations at a meeting today, he said his aim was to help integrate legal and illegal immigrants into the state's economy and civic life. That is a goal most New Jersey residents do not share. They want their government to enforce the immigration laws on the books and to implement policies that will discourage people from entering the country illegally. Creating a driver privilege card and providing reduced in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants is an affront to taxpayers and to immigrants who complied with the law in gaining citizenship.Corzine should lobby the incoming Obama administration and the state's congressional delegation to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that provides for secure borders and stiff penalities for businesses that hire undocumented workers, and empowers local police to enforce immigration laws.

In the meantime, jobs are becoming scarce while unethical contractors and businesses continue to exploit illegal immigrants with below-market, off-the-books wages that make it even more difficult for legal residents to find work. The state should be doing everything in its power to reverse the flow of illegal immigrants into New Jersey, not dreaming up new ways to accelerate it.