Sheriff favors limited licenses for illegal aliens
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December 6, 2008 - 4:01 PM
By Robert Boyer / Times-News

During his six years as Alamance County sheriff, Terry Johnson has taken a tough stance on illegal immigrants and others who use fake documents to get driver's licenses.

According to a Times-News story, several times between July and September 2003, sheriff's deputies acting on tips went to the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Graham and confiscated licenses before returning them to DMV examiners. The deputies also arrested a total of about 30 people they suspected of using false information to obtain the licenses.

In October 2004, County Manager David Smith gave the sheriff a list of 125 Hispanics registered to vote in the county. Johnson, who suspected that some had registered fraudulently as they obtained driver's licenses, sent the list to federal immigration officials to verify identity and residency status.

Lax DMV requirements that allowed illegal immigrants and criminals to use false documents to get ID cards and licenses spurred the crackdowns, the sheriff said.

But Monday, Johnson seemed to be moderating his position when he told a local advocacy group that he favors limited licenses for illegal immigrants.

Johnson said this as he met at length with members of Fairness Alamance, a group that has concerns about the 287(g) program, the illegal immigration enforcement partnership between the sheriff and the federal Department of Homeland Security.

Johnson's statement favoring limited driving privileges came after Fairness members said they had concerns that deputies unfairly targeted Hispanic drivers for arrest on minor offenses like driving without a license.

In such cases, deputies and other local lawmen typically arrest and take to the county jail any unlicensed driver whose identity they can't verify during the stop, the sheriff and sheriff's spokesman Randy Jones said.

The sheriff's statement to Fairness doesn't signal a shift in his stance on driver's licenses, Jones said Friday. Johnson could not be contacted for comment.

"We are not in favor of giving any type of limited driving to somebody if they're an illegal, unless they're going to be substantiated as who they are. That's the problem we've had all along."

Finding a reasonable way to verify the identity of such immigrants is the "major obstacle," one that "would probably have to require fingerprinting (and) photographing" Jones said.

Such a system would prevent a return to the "total joke" of earlier DMV identification requirements, he added.

Doing so, though, would essentially be the same as processing the immigrants through 287(g).

Without verification, illegal immigrants or anyone else using aliases who are charged with crimes or ticketed for alleged traffic violations have no reason to come to court, as was the case in the past, Jones said. "If you wrote a ticket to an illegal immigrant ... you might as well have just rolled it up and thrown it in the trash can. They wouldn't come to court."

Verifying identity also looms large when it comes to gun permits, Jones said. The sheriff's office must issue a gun permit if the applicant provides the required identification and the office finds no fault with it.



NORTH CAROLINA LAW does not explicitly require legal residency in the U.S. to get a driver's license.

But a portion of the law bars illegal or undocumented immigrants from getting licenses. "The Division shall not issue an identification card, learners permit, or driver's license to an applicant who fails to provide the applicant's valid Social Security number," the portion states.

Only legal U.S. residents can lawfully obtain a Social Security card.

In an e-mail to the Times-News, DMV spokeswoman Margaret Howell said first-time applicants "must present a valid Social Security card to the examiner.

"The number must be validated with the Social Security Administration before a license, learner's permit or ID will be issued. The full name, date of birth and (Social Security number) must fully match" Administration records, Howell added.

Those without Social Security numbers "must provide documentation issued by the United States government indicating your legal presence in the U.S."
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