Thread: Immigrant license bill under Republican fire

GO ARNIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/stat ... cense.html

Immigrant license bill under Republican fire

DMV, CHP also oppose measure

By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

June 28, 2005

SACRAMENTO – The Schwarzenegger administration unleashed an aggressive new offensive yesterday against pending legislation that would restore the ability of undocumented immigrants to drive legally in California.

A deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security warned an Assembly committee that the measure could interfere with federal efforts to intercept terrorists before they enter the United States.


The Department of Motor Vehicles also weighed in for the first time against the bill – SB 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles – as did the California Highway Patrol. The agencies are headed by appointees who answer to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Democrat-dominated Transportation Committee still approved the legislation on a 7-5 vote that broke along party lines, with Republicans opposed. The bill already has passed the Senate.

Although the administration officials raised the volume, they didn't stray far from the governor's latest stand in opposing the legislation. The bill, they argued, is premature with federal guidelines still months and perhaps a year away.

A new federal law prescribed security standards for drivers' licenses nationwide. That law, the Real ID Act of 2005, also included provisions authorizing states to issue separate, visually distinctive documents or driving certificates for those who are not be citizens or legal residents. But the standards and process for licensing the latter have not yet been released.

"We believe it would be premature to adopt this bill before knowing all the details of the regulations that will be issued by the federal Department of Homeland Security," Mike Dayton, deputy director of California's Office of Homeland Security, told the committee.

"We're also concerned that this bill may undermine current national security efforts to identify criminals and other violators before they enter the country," Dayton said.

In an interview afterward, Dayton said he was alluding to fingerprint and background checks conducted abroad on foreign nationals who want to come to the United States. It was unclear how that might be compromised by a system to give driving privileges to undocumented immigrants already in California. The proposed document could not be used for identification like regular licenses.

Dayton argued in a letter to the committee that Cedillo's bill could "make it easier for criminals to establish multiple, false identities" that could frustrate law enforcement.

But Cedillo said the governor simply keeps changing his terms for a compromise on the politically delicate issue.

"He wanted a marked license," Cedillo said. "This has a marked license . . . He wanted a license for driving purposes only. This bill is for driving purposes only.

"Then he said, 'Gil, this is bigger than your district. This is bigger than the state. We have to think about national security,' " Cedillo said. "Congress has acted and this is the consensus."

Schwarzenegger's demand that the Legislature repeal an earlier Cedillo license bill was a popular theme in his 2003 recall campaign of then-Gov. Gray Davis, who signed the bill.

California issued driver licenses to illegal immigrants for more than 60 years until 1994. The year before, former Gov. Pete Wilson signed a Democrat-sponsored bill that outlawed the practice. More than 2 million unlicensed immigrants are believed to be driving in California.

Cedillo and supporters of his bill, including the state's largest insurance trade association, say those drivers are untrained, untested and uninsured. Opponents say the measure would sanction illegal immigration.

"Those who are in this country illegally should not have the right to anything," said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia.

I am a California resident living in a largly Hispanic neighborhood in Los Angeles. Although I understand the need for most people to drive in a city as large and spread out as Los Angeles, I don't understand what that has to do with providing a legal benifit to someone residing here illegally. What other benifits should we provide to illegal immigrants? free housing? free public education? food stamps? WIC? And don't let the argument that has been put forth by some that "these people pay taxes and therefore should be allowed to live here and drive legally" sway you. Unless you have a social security number, you don't pay state and federal income tax. And if you are buying goods with undeclared funds, paying sales tax is the least you can do. People need to realize that taking a stand against illegal immigrations isn't racist, isn't politically incorrect, isn't attacking the poor and the indigent. It is being rational. Laws are not made to be followed by some and bent or broken by others. Last time I checked, doing something illegally meant breaking the law and was, therefore, a cause for arrest and prosecution, not reward and benifit. If this is something that concerns you, whether you live in a border state or smack dab in the middle of the country, contact your local representatives and let them know what you think about this issue. Afterall, it is your country and they work for you.

sagekaplan,
Welcome to ALIPAC.

Great comments. We are just trying to look out for the interests of our country and protect it from the invaders.

The Schwarzenegger administration unleashed an aggressive new offensive yesterday against pending legislation that would restore the ability of undocumented immigrants to drive legally in California.

YES! Flex that legal American citizen muscle Arny!

Forgive me for my rudeness Sage....

WELCOME (and great post)!