Thread: N.M.: Immigrant rights group upset with records denial

Immigrant rights group upset with records denial

By Milan Simonich
Posted: 09/19/2011 10:38:36 PM MDT


SANTA FE An advocacy group on Monday said Gov. Susana Martinez had tried to scare the public about illegal immigrants receiving New Mexico driver's licenses, but then refused to supply any evidence of fraud.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido made an open-records request for all "false or fraudulent" applications for foreign national driver's licenses.

In response, the Department of Taxation and Revenue said it could not provide the records because state law prohibited their release.

This controversy over state records involves one of Martinez's high-profile initiatives.

She is pressing for the repeal of a 2003 law that allows people to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses without proof of immigration status. Martinez has said the law is "dangerous" and has made New Mexico a magnet for fraud.

"When it comes to proving her point, she won't come up with the records," said Elsa Lopez of Somos Un Pueblo Unido "We think New Mexico deserves to know the answer."

Scott Darnell, Martinez's press secretary, said the administration sticks by its assessment that the licensing system invites crime. He cited extensive calls from out-of-state phone numbers by people trying to obtain New Mexico licenses as one example of potential fraud.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido filed its request for the records in June. Martinez's administration sought an extension and then replied at the end of August.

The immigrant organization made the case public Monday, and said it was considering its legal options in pursuing the records.

Lopez said the governor's staff had withheld the information on the basis of executive privilege.

But Darnell said she was wrong, and that the records were not released for a fundamental legal reason.

"Personal driver's license information is confidential by state law and highly protected," he said.

Lopez said her organization did not seek confidential drivers' records. Rather, she said, it wanted the state's documentation of fraud.

More than 90,000 people are listed as foreign nationals who have New Mexico driver's licenses. The state has about 1.6 million licensed drivers.

Not all of the foreign nationals with licenses are illegal immigrants, but the state Motor Vehicle Division does not break down how many are.

A few high-profile cases of fraud in the licensing system have made news in the last year.

For instance, three people of Polish descent living in Chicago were arrested and convicted for illegally trying to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses.

The ringleader, who advertised for illegal immigrants in need of a driver's license, charged fellow Poles $1,000 for the trip to Albuquerque and the scam to obtain licenses.

But executives of Somos Un Pueblo Unido said the state had turned up relatively few cases of fraud, based on admissions by an investigator in the Taxation and Revenue Department.

During the winter legislative session, investigator Alvin Romero said the department had a half-dozen open fraud cases.

Later, Martinez's administration wrote to 10,000 foreign nationals, telling them they had to prove their residency by traveling to a special motor vehicle office in Albuquerque or Las Cruces. Martinez said investigating fraud was at the heart of the residency certification program.

A judge recently halted the program after a civil rights group sued Martinez's administration.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido said most undocumented immigrants with driver's licenses hold jobs and pay taxes.

Lopez calls the licensing law makes "common sense" because it enables them to buy auto insurance and drive legally.

Three bills to repeal or tighten the licensing law have been filed for the special legislative session now under way. All the measures await committee hearings.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_18933232

But executives of Somos Un Pueblo Unido said the state had turned up relatively few cases of fraud, based on admissions by an investigator in the Taxation and Revenue Department.

Ah, but the State of Massachusetts has canceled NM licenses due to fraud!
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-250364.html

Illegals should not have drivers' licenses - period!! Considering that the DL is used for identification purposes, it would be easy for them to obtain services they are not entitled to based on their possession of a driver's license.

they are all Fraud
did you all just get off the Boat?
No amnesty

"When it comes to proving her point, she won't come up with the records,"

Welcome to the party, pal! We have been trying to do this very thing with our imposter-in-chief for over two years.