Thread: Maine: Residency Not Required

Residency Not Required
Web Editor: Kara Matuszewski, Reporter/Anchor
Last Updated: 7/13/2007 12:06:11 AM


(NEWS CENTER) -- It's a little known fact that you don't have to be a Maine resident to get a Maine driver's license. The U.S. Attorney's office is investigating several cases where they say people are being paid to bring illegal aliens to Maine specifically to get a driver's license.
Paula Silsby, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, thought Maine had a residency requirement for drivers licenses until her office started the investigation last year. "There should be some integrity, integrity to the system, and there isn't any right now," she said.

There are reasons why someone may not be a resident, but wants a Maine driver's license, said Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. He said students or people who do a lot of business in Maine may want a driver's license from the state. But he adds the system isn't perfect.

"There still needs to be changes. Absolutely," he said. "I don't dispute that at all. I'm not saying our system is perfect and it works a 100 percent."

What Silsby's office is investigating doesn't include students or business people, it's illegal aliens. She said people are paid to bring illegal aliens to the state to get a driver's license.

It's not a difficult process. While one of the requirements for a license is a social security number, the Secretary of State's office also allows written proof that someone's ineligible for such a number. So when these people come into the state, one of the first stops they make is at the Social Security office.

There, they get Form SSA-L676. It doesn't say applicants are ineligible for a social security number, only that they didn't provide the right paperwork to process an application. With this form in hand, the group then goes to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to apply for a driver's license. As long as applicants pass all the tests and have one other form of identification that shows their age, and it's not an expired foreign document, they can get a license.

"We're not immigration officials," said Dunlap. "We don't have the equipment. We don't have the training. We don't have the personnel or the money to do immigration work."

In August 2006, there were 3,788 names in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles registry with a series of 9s instead of a Social Security number. Some of those are people here legally in the state, but Silsby says her office's investigation shows most of them are illegally in the country. Nine months later, in May of this year, there were 5,372 names on the same list. That's an increase of 40 percent.

Silsby says not having a residency requirement opens a major loophole in the system and criminals can get through it. When asked whether she knows of any time an illegal alien has used a Maine license to buy a gun and commit a crime, she said it has happened. "That's why this is such an important issue for the people of the state of Maine to understand," she said. "A drivers license is, in many instances, the keys to the kingdom."

In order to buy a gun, under federal law, buyers do need to prove they're a resident of the state in which they're buying. At the Kittery Trading Post, like most other gun dealers in Maine, they accept a driver's license as proof of residency. John Klosenski, the shooting sports manager at the store, was shocked to hear you don't have to be a resident of the state to get a license.

"Here we are thinking that we're relying on the state for a certified documentation and it could be something different," said Klosenski. After learning about this, he said he will talk with other store officials about their protocol for buying guns.

The Governor has ordered that a group look at all the laws governing eligibility and documentation requirements for drivers licenses, specifically residency and legal presence requirements. That group is to report back to a Legislative committee in January.

There's already a lot of discussion as to what should happen. Some of it includes Real ID, the federal program in which every state would ask for the same information and put it into a national database. It would require state residency and have a verification process that's currently not in place in Maine.

Representative Scott Lansley (R-Sabbatus) lead the opposition to Real ID in Maine. He and other lawmakers say it's too expensive and there are security concerns. But he does say there needs to be changes. "If you're not a resident of the state, you should not be able to get a license. Plain and simple, that's just it," he said.

One of the problems he said the state has is an executive order that no state employee can ask anyone of their immigration status. "If we get rid of the executive order about being a sanctuary state, that would resolve a lot of issues," he said.

Paula Silsby agrees. She said having a driver's license is like having the keys to the kingdom. Not only can they buy guns, but they can also get on planes, vote and open a bank account. Silsby said too many people have those keys right now.

"It's a significant vulnerability in the 21st century to have people who are in this country illegally be able to obtain, so easily, a state issued form of identification, and in this case a Maine issued form of identification," she said.

Maine is one of only eight states that doesn't have a residency requirement. The National Immigration Law Center website says the other states are Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. As more states tighten their residency requirements, Silsby says more illegal immigrants come to Maine to get licenses.

Secretary Dunlap said as lawmakers look at all of this, he wants them to do it carefully. "What we need to be careful of is to protect our ability to help people who are going to do us no harm and prevent people who are going to do us harm from being able to facilitate that act," he said.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/article ... ryid=65989

Wow, I thought I'd hear it all - guess not!

There are reasons why someone may not be a resident, but wants a Maine driver's license, said Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. He said students or people who do a lot of business in Maine may want a driver's license from the state.

That doesn't necessarily mean they should get one! I want 5 million dollars, will you give it to me?

Maine needs to change its laws. handing driver licenses to illegals opens all kinds of trouble for rest of the country. No wonder they don't the universal ID.

We're not immigration officials," said Dunlap. "We don't have the equipment. We don't have the training. We don't have the personnel or the money to do immigration work."

Another FLIMSY excuse from a pro-illegal immigration WHIMP.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out the difference between legal and illegal.

Originally Posted by butterbean

We're not immigration officials," said Dunlap. "We don't have the equipment. We don't have the training. We don't have the personnel or the money to do immigration work."

Another FLIMSY excuse from a pro-illegal immigration WHIMP.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out the difference between legal and illegal.

"we don't have the equipment" what kind of equipment does it take? a telephone to call ICE and have them come haul them away. I can see where that would take alot of training



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Originally Posted by jean

We're not immigration officials," said Dunlap. "We don't have the equipment. We don't have the training. We don't have the personnel or the money to do immigration work."

"We don't have our own hands and voices.
Our hands are tied, and our tongues are tied too.

We are MAINE . . . a SANCTUARY STATE."

Originally Posted by nntrixie

Is a law not a law just because enough people want to break it and because big business and politicians want to get rich?