Thread: OR: Governor asks for new rules on licenses

Governor asks for new rules on licenses
ID card - With easy access to an official ID card, Oregon a prime spot for noncitizens
Friday, October 12, 2007
HARRY ESTEVE
The Oregonian Staff

Oregon must tighten rules on driver's licenses because the state has become a magnet for noncitizens who want identification cards "for nefarious purposes," Gov. Ted Kulongoski says.

Kulongoski told The Oregonian that the issue took on new urgency for him after federal law enforcement agencies raised concerns about Oregon's lax requirements for obtaining a driver's license.

"There have been a number of investigations going on in which Oregon has become the principal place where people who do not have legal presence come to get either a commercial or noncommercial license," Kulongoski said.
Advertisement



He wouldn't name the federal agencies involved or provide details about the investigations. But he said he has heard enough that he wants new license requirements to be a top priority when the Legislature reconvenes in a special session in February.

Kulongoski said he has been working with federal Homeland Security officials to prepare for "TOPOFF 4," a scenario-based exercise centered in Portland this year that looks at how prepared local communities -- and the nation -- are for a major terrorist strike.

Easy access to an official ID card "is a serious problem" that touches on identity theft and national security issues, Kulongoski said.

Oregon, one of eight states that don't require proof of "lawful presence" to get a driver's license, is considered to have some of the loosest requirements in the country. While other states require birth certificates or passports, Oregon has a long list of documents that qualify as evidence that the person is an Oregon resident.

Critics of Oregon's licensing rules say many of those documents are easy to forge or buy on the black market.

Michigan has similarly loose rules for licenses, Kulongoski said, but Oregon has become the center of a shady license-acquiring racket. The reason? Oregon licenses have eight-year expiration periods, compared with four years for Michigan.

"There are people called facilitators," Kulongoski said. "They advertise in newspapers across the country, in minority communities, in their native language. They may be Russian, Ukrainian, Latino, whatever it is. They actually set up a process to bring people here to Oregon," where they teach them the Oregon driver's manual.

Sometimes the facilitators even provide cars for the people to practice and take the driving test, Kulongoski said. They come to Oregon, he said, "because they can't get a license anywhere else."

Political brawl likely

State Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, says he has heard similar concerns about the ease in getting an Oregon license. He said he expects legislators to take up the issue during the February special session.

If so, a political brawl is likely because Kulongoski remains adamant about the need for a secondary license for those who can't -- or won't -- provide proof of legal residence. The license would be for driving privileges only, not identification, and would have a shorter expiration period.
Advertisement


"I don't know if you can get the votes for that," Courtney said.

House Republicans already have denounced the governor's proposal for a provisional license.

"It's wrong to issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens," House Republican leader Bruce Hanna of Roseburg said in a recent news release.

He said his caucus supports proof of legal residency before a license may be issued, but not a secondary licensing system.

"Economy is dependent"

Kulongoski said a two-tier licensing system would allow people who can't come up with the necessary documents to continue driving legally. That includes some elderly residents, he said. But he also acknowledged that illegal immigrants would be able to obtain a license to drive.

"The reality is, we need a lot of the people who are here who do not meet the legal presence test," he said. "Our economy is dependent on them."

Any bill changing driver's license requirements probably would focus on the federal Real ID Act, which calls for more stringent proof of citizenship or legal residence before someone can obtain a license.

"The governor is becoming concerned. Legislators are becoming concerned," said Russ Kelley, spokesman for House Speaker Jeff Merkley, D-Portland. "I would be very surprised if we did not address it in some way" in the February session.

Kulongoski's spokeswoman, Patty Wentz, said the governor's staff is looking at what it can do administratively -- without legislative approval -- to increase requirements for proof of legal presence for getting a license.

"The lawyers are looking at it," Wentz said. "We just want to see what all of our options are."

Harry Esteve: 503-221-8226; harryesteve@news.oregonian.com


http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonia ... xml&coll=7

It' time for the states to stop pandering to illegal aliens, period!!





-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTION ALERTS! Please take action
"State Legistatures for Legal Immigration" PETITION
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=84944
Welcome to "AIIPAC"
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=83274
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT ALIPAC Please Contribute!!
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=C ... page&pid=9
Contact Info...Senators, Representatives & USEFUL INFORMATION
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&p=384761

Quote in part:


"There have been a number of investigations going on in which Oregon has become the principal place where people who do not have legal presence come to get either a commercial or noncommercial license," Kulongoski said.

The commercial is very important. You can use commercial trucks for bombings like in OK. These people need to be recalled who are not there to protect their citizens.