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Posted on Mon, Jan. 15, 2007



Illegal immigrant licenses again a source of debate

By Aurelio Rojas
SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO - On the same day last week that state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, introduced legislation -- for the ninth consecutive year -- to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, law enforcement officials were meeting in Sacramento.

Among the issues discussed were federal and state court rulings restricting authority of law enforcement officers to seize vehicles.

Although decisions by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco and the California Court of Appeal did not specifically deal with illegal immigration, in many communities the majority of cars impounded belong to unlicensed drivers in the country illegally.

As a result of the rulings, the California Police Chiefs Association has told its members it is illegal to impound vehicles of people whose only violation is driving without a license when the vehicle does not create a traffic hazard.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, after consulting with county attorneys, became one of the first jurisdictions in the state to follow the legal advice.

"This isn't an immigration or racial issue," Sheriff Bill Cogbill said. "But the majority of people who get their cars towed (in Sonoma County) are illegal immigrants because they can't get a driver's license."

Santa Rosa Police Chief Ed Flint, whose department is reviewing its towing policies, said there is a lot of disagreement "up and down the state" about the federal court ruling in an Oregon case that has prompted many departments to re-evaluate their procedures.

Like Cogbill, Flint emphasized this is not an immigration issue but said "the failure of federal and state government to address the immigration problem" has forced local officials to take the initiative.

Although cities such as Costa Mesa and Escondido with predominantly white residents are cracking down on illegal immigrants, Latino cities such as Maywood have curtailed traffic stops and auto impounding seen as targeting illegal immigrants.

"Many of these problems are left up to local government officials to contend with," said Flint, a former police chief of Elk Grove. "And the whole licensing thing is out of the hands of sheriffs and police chiefs."

After eight years of disappointment, Cedillo believes the law will change this year. He points out that the federal government is scheduled to release regulations for the Real ID Act, saying immigration reform may occur now that Democrats have become a majority in Congress.

Prompted by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Real ID Act seeks to create a national standard for driver's licenses.

"If we're going to have legislation to come into compliance, it has to be done this year," Cedillo said Thursday, after introducing his latest bill, SB60. "The governor has indicated in his objections in the past that we didn't have any guidelines, but he soon will."

In his vetoing Cedillo's bill last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the measure -- SB1162 -- premature because Real ID Act regulations and immigration reforms had not been implemented.

But Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which has been at the vanguard of the battle against illegal immigration, said Cedillo should not hold his breath.

"Unless there's something in the Real ID Act that says, 'Go ahead, issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens' -- which I seriously doubt -- I think it's going to be difficult for Schwarzenegger to do a 180 on this," Mehlman said.






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