Immigration Amnesty in Any Form is Wrong
By Michael Steele
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

New York looks to play an important role in the upcoming presidential elections in more ways than one. Not only could we see an "all New York" presidential line-up (Rudy vs. Hillary) but Democrat Governor Elliott Spitzer has managed to focus the attention of the entire nation on New York by announcing his plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

Governor Spitzer obviously has no clear understanding of the far-reaching and crippling effects on our Nation’s security such a measure would have. By equating providing state-issued legal driver's licenses to the purchase of a MetroCard ("I don't think it is a privilege any more than buying a MetroCard is a privilege," Spitzer said on New York 1 News of his three-tiered license plan. "When we walk down into the subway system to buy a MetroCard, no one says, 'Prove you are a citizen'; no one says, 'Where did you grow up?'"), the Governor insults the intelligence of most Americans who fundamentally understand the difference. I wish the Governor did.

Unlike a MetroCard, a New York driver’s license provides a valid form of state-issued identification, which itself gives the holder a number of state and national benefits. For example, individuals with a valid driver’s license may use that license to apply for a job or to board a plane in any airport in this country. What Governor Spitzer has so irresponsibly proposed is a plan to provide this legal form of identification to persons who are in this country illegally; and as such, his plan would further weaken the social and security systems of our states and nation.

But there is more. One other not so insignificant impact of such a measure is that it would allow illegal immigrants to use this license to register to vote. New York Board of Elections Spokesman Lee Daghlian admits, “It would be [tough to catch] if someone wanted to …. get a number of people registered [to vote] who aren’t citizens and went ahead and got them driver’s licensesâ€