Thread: Tighter license rules hit illegal immigrants

Friday, August 24, 2007

Tighter license rules hit illegal immigrants

By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer

Even where it’s legal, it’s getting tougher for illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses.

The handful of states that issue licenses to illegal immigrants are stepping up efforts to combat fraud and identity theft. That means stricter rules for ensuring immigrants live in-state and are who they say they are.

In the last year, North Carolina and Tennessee stopped issuing licenses to illegal immigrants altogether. Meanwhile, New Mexico’s motor vehicle agency enlisted the Mexican government to help the state check the identity of would-be drivers. Maine began limiting licenses to in-state residents, after decades of resisting.

Only seven states – Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington – allow undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses.

Supporters of the policy say it helps authorities know who’s on the road, encourages immigrant motorists to buy insurance and decreases tension between police and immigrants.

While fraud was cited as the chief reason for stricter rules in those states, a 2005 federal law called Real ID Act, could lead to even tighter regulations.

The law, which takes full effect in 2013, encourages states to make their licenses more secure. If a state does not meet the law’s standards, license-holders in that state will not be able to use their ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings, among other things. The 9/11 Commission, established in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, recommended the change.

Only Utah currently issues a different sort of license for people, including immigrants, who don’t have Social Security numbers. The state’s “driver privilege cardâ€

Moving to news section.

Giving them a Driver's Privelege Card is the same thing as a license, which they shouldn't have. In other words there not going to do a damn thing to get these people out. There giving them amnesty, a little at a time. If they have all the priveleges of an American citizen, it's amnesty.

[quote="controlledImmigration"]Having two types of licenses, as contemplated under Real ID, could pose problems where police departments enforce federal immigration law, added John Trasviña, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “When an officer is carrying both the federal mantle of immigration authority as well as trying to solve crimes, his mission gets confused. People are less likely to cooperate with them,â€