Thread: NM governor won't change mind about driver's licenses

NM governor says she won't change mind about driver's licenses for illegal immigrants

By Milan Simonich / Santa Fe Bureau
Posted: 03/11/2011 12:14:37 PM MST

SANTA FE - Gov. Susana Martinez this morning said she would not compromise on issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.
The law is wrong and it must be repealed, she said during a news conference.

Martinez said she would stand firm against a compromise Senate bill that would continue allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses. It would require fingerprinting of foreign nationals and mandate that they renew their licenses every two years.

"I oppose that. I will not support it," Martinez said during a news conference.

She said her position reflects the will of state residents. "They do not want driver's licenses issued to illegal immigrants," Martinez said.

She is pushing instead for a bill approved by the House of Representatives. It would prevent anyone without proof of immigration status from receiving a New Mexico driver's license.
Legislators will meet on the differing House and Senate bills to see if they can reach a middle ground. But Martinez said she would not sign any bill that continues the current licensing law.

The Legislature in 2003 approved the law allowing people to receive driver's licenses without proof of immigration status.

About 83,000 licenses have since been issued to foreign nationals, some of whom are in the country illegally. The state Department of Motor Vehicles does not track how many of those had legal status and how many did not.

Foreign nationals account for about 5 percent of the nearly 1.7 million people who have New Mexico driver's licenses.
Democrats in the Senate, with one exception, supported continuing licensing undocumented immigrants who provide other forms of identification. These include individual taxpayer numbers and Matricula Consular cards for those with roots in Mexico.

Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming was the only Democrat to vote against the Senate bill that would continue licensing those in the country illegally. Democrats control the Senate, 27-15.

New Mexico is one of three states that issues driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. The others are Utah and Washington.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@-tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17592990

This should be a standard for all states. NO license to be issued unless you can prove you are here legally. No watering it down, no compromise....JUST SIMPLY NO!!!!! Does not take much translation into spanish. NO IS NO. If your illegal...the answer is your not welcome here and certainly not going to get a license.

Then cops do not have to ask about immigration status but focus instead on "assisting drivers to locate their driving records" at the local police station or sheriff's office.

As a legal migrant I am tired of being lumped in with illegals as a "foreign national". MY fingerprints are already on file with USCIS AND have been processed through the FBI when I obtained my visa and renewal. Why exactly should I have to have them taken for a NM licence?

There is a federal law against aiding and abetting illegal aliens. How can issuing illegals a drivers license not be against said law? Sorry, I just don't get it.

Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):

A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:

* assists an alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or

* encourages that alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or

* knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.

I don't think anyone will deny that a drivers license helps illgals to obtain employment.

Originally Posted by Mickey

There is a federal law against aiding and abetting illegal aliens. How can issuing illegals a drivers license not be against said law? Sorry, I just don't get it.

Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):

A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:

* assists an alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or

* encourages that alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or

* knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.

I don't think anyone will deny that a drivers license helps illgals to obtain employment.

You are correct Mickey, aiding and abetting illegal immigrants is a felony crime. We can also view this as a different aspect of criminal actions and use the term as an accessory to a crime, because if any person assist persons residing in this Country illegally in benefiting ways and help them gain ways to stay in the U.S. undocumented they are a part of the illegal act and should be prosecuted by all means of legal actions.