Thread: USA Today: Cities get at illegal immigrants through cars

Cities get at illegal immigrants through cars

By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

Local officials getting tough on illegal immigrants have a new target: their cars.
Communities in Alabama, California, Illinois and elsewhere are using laws that punish drivers without licenses. Cities often tow cars immediately.

The laws don't single out illegal immigrants, but some officials say they sought the penalties because more illegal immigrants are living and driving in their towns. Most states do not issue licenses to illegal immigrants.

"We have had a substantial decline in our quality of life, our neighborhoods. We believe there is a direct correlation with illegal immigration," says Sam Abed, deputy mayor of Escondido, Calif., who is pushing an ordinance to limit overnight parking on public streets.

Abed says illegal immigrants crowd into homes. "Every time there's a house for sale, three or four families buy it. There are 10 cars out front," he says. "Some people cannot park in front of their own homes."

The City Council voted in June to consider an ordinance that would allow each household to park only one car on the street overnight.

Attempts to deal with illegal immigration at the local level have accelerated since Congress failed this summer to overhaul the immigration system.

About 100 communities have proposed ordinances in the past year, most penalizing landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and businesses that hire them, the American Civil Liberties Union says. Forty have passed.

"There's been a long history of ordinances that don't say anything about immigrants and nothing about national origin, but clearly are aimed at particular groups," says John Trasviña, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "They have uniformly been struck down."

A towing ordinance in Waukegan, Ill., is being challenged in federal court. It requires police to impound a car and fine a driver without a license or insurance $500.

Mayor Richard Hyde says the ordinance was motivated by public safety concerns. Ramon Becerra, regional head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, says it promotes racial profiling. Most drivers whose cars are towed are Hispanic, he says.

Hyde says that was true at first but now they're "predominantly white." Traffic accidents have declined, he adds.

The nearby city of Elgin, Ill., broadened its towing ordinance last month to cover unlicensed drivers. Officials in Carpentersville, Ill., were scheduled to discuss whether to adopt a similar ordinance Tuesday.

The Hispanic population in all three Illinois communities has more than doubled since 1990.

A new towing ordinance in Athens, Ala., targets unlicensed drivers. Nearby communities, including Huntsville, are weighing similar measures.

Last year, 3,045 drivers in Huntsville were cited for driving without a license, up from 2,258 the year before. Public Safety Director Rex Reynolds attributes the increase to stepped-up enforcement and a growing population of illegal immigrant drivers.

The City Council will vote this month on a proposal to tow cars of drivers without licenses, he says.

"While our ordinance does not in any way target illegal immigrants, the number of Hispanic offenders we are seeing continues to increase," he says. "A large percentage of them are traveling to and from work. … We cannot allow that."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... ng15_N.htm

That is really to bad Mexicans can not drive without licences. I doubt that is true. The fact is most illegal aliens are Hispanic and cannot get or do not deserve a license. If you do not like our laws LEAVE! I would be interested in trying to get the 287g up and working in Chicago and am willing to help anyway I can.

"A towing ordinance in Waukegan, Ill., is being challenged in federal court. It requires police to impound a car and fine a driver without a license or insurance $500.
Ramon Becerra, regional head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, says it promotes racial profiling. Most drivers whose cars are towed are Hispanic, he says. "

.......Well then,,,, most people breaking the Law ARE Hispanic, you moron. Is that our fault -- or THEIRS??????
What part of ILLEGAL don't you get!

Ramon Becerra, regional head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, says it promotes racial profiling. Most drivers whose cars are towed are Hispanic, he says. "

I love how everytime these people open there mouths all they do is prove that there illegal, breaking the law and Hispanic.

Thank you for making our point.

This really angers me because it's just another example of LULAC (and other racist organizations like them) trying to set a precedent that the laws of the United States apply to everybody BUT illegal immigrants.

It seems that whenever we insist that illegal immigrants obey our laws, pro-illegal immigration groups scream "RACISM". I don't get the logic? If a white person has their car impounded due to driving without a license, that's okay. But if a Hispanic person has their car impounded, well...that's racism.

It's totally illogical.

A new towing ordinance in Athens, Ala., targets unlicensed drivers. Nearby communities, including Huntsville, are weighing similar measures.

In another community down by Birmingham has done the same thing. I heard a story from a friend of mine that a court clerk told her. A police officer pulled over a driver and got the standard " No Comprende" , until the tow truck driver showed up, and he said " Hey man, why are you towing my car?" the police officer replied " No Comprende"

Originally Posted by shotgun

"Ramon Becerra, regional head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, says it promotes racial profiling. [u]Most drivers whose cars are towed are Hispanic, he says. "

Originally Posted by shotgun

.......Well then,,,, most people breaking the Law ARE Hispanic, you moron. Is that our fault -- or THEIRS??????

I couldn't agree more. It's when the shoe fits wear it.

Dixie

Yes, these people understand a lot of English and they speak much more than we think.

Surely these cities have laws on the books about driving without licenses, etc.

If they don't make the mistake of passing some new law and just enforce the ones on the books already that have been there and been used, they will do much better. If it is a law that has been used and proven before, the pro-illegal people can't do anything but scream.

But as the vehicles are towed, and laws enforced, they will leave.

Their screaming this points out the fact they are not willing to obey the laws - live within our culture, either legal or just accepted rules.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... =0&thold=0

It reminds me of my encounter with an illegal. This guy caused an accident that could have killed both me and my son had I not swerved to avoid a direct broadside collision.

This idiot was driving a van and made an abrupt left turn in front of my car as I was driving straight down a road. He not only had no license, he had no registration. The cop didn't even give him a ticket.

Let one of us cause an accident and tell the police that we don't have a license or registration. See how fast we are carted to jail.