Thread: Oregon bill would let illegal immigrants get driver's licens

Oregon bill would let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses

KMTR-TV
updated 4/17/2011 6:45:53 PM ET



SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon lawmakers will hear from the public Monday about giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, a proposal that's certain to spark powerful emotions but unlikely to become law. The Senate Transportation and Economic Development Committee will hear from the public about SB 745, which would give a special driver's license to people who can't produce a birth certificate. The state-issued identification card would grant driving privileges but couldn't be used for other purposes such as obtaining a concealed handgun permit or registering to vote or betting at a race track. Lawmakers missed a key deadline to schedule a vote on the bill so it cannot advance out of the committee. Supporters of the measure say illegal immigrants will drive whether they have a license or not, so the state should promote safe driving. Licensed drivers are tested to ensure they know the rules of the road, and it's far easier for them to get vehicle insurance, proponents argue. "Immigrants do not come to this country to get driver's licenses. They do not leave because they're ineligible," Sen. Chip Shields, a Portland Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, said in a statement. He said the bill is "all about public safety."

Proponents argue that the bill isn't just aimed at illegal immigrants. They say there are citizens and legal U.S. residents who have lost their birth certificate or spend months trying to track one down. The bill would allow people in those circumstances to drive while they get the documentation needed for a full-privilege license. But opponents aren't convinced. Jim Ludwig, president of the anti-illegal immigration group Oregonians for Immigration Reform, said it would endanger the public. A member of a drug cartel could obtain a license to legally drive on Oregon streets, Ludwig warned. And someone who's in the country illegally isn't going to feel the need to purchase auto insurance, he said. "They operate in an environment where criminality and not obeying the laws is an acceptable way of doing business," Ludwig said. Utah, New Mexico and Washington allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses. The Oregon Senate last moth voted to allow some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public universities. The measure is awaiting a committee hearing in the House Rules Committee.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42636244/ns ... gfield_or/

http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Or ... -7OrQ.cspx (link added by imblest)

Oregon
I don't think you city or town is playing with a full deck In my book .

No amnesty

Supporters of the measure say illegal immigrants will drive whether they have a license or not, so the state should promote safe driving.

Well hell's bells, I know plenty of 12 year old that want to drive! According to these morons we should let them?!?!?!

Illegal immigrants should NOT be granted special privileges, they should be booted OUT of here!!

Any state that gives drivers licesnes to illegal invaders should lose federal highway funds. In a country committed to enforcing the rule of law, that would happen. Instead, states are seemingly rewarded by our federal government when they accomodate illegal invaders. This must stop.

Do those people understand what can happen in this Country when they allow undocumented aliens to obtain driver's licences/ legal documents? They cause many more illegal aliens to arrive to the United States. Remember 9/11, and think about the innocent lives lost, before rendering support to illegal aliens folks.

"They operate in an environment where criminality and not obeying the laws is an acceptable way of doing business," Ludwig said. Utah, New Mexico and Washington allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses. The Oregon Senate last moth voted to allow some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public universities. The measure is awaiting a committee hearing in the House Rules Committee.

Ludwig is right. I dont get why this logic is so hard for liberals to understand. I'm washing my hands of states that pass this type of BS - including my own!

One more thing I'll also be crossing OR off my list of states to visit since I won't feel safe going there. I don't feel safe in CA either. Haven't for a long time.

"Supporters of the measure say illegal immigrants will drive whether they have a license or not, so the state should promote safe driving."

Pot smokers will smoke anyway, but because they are Americans and not illegal, we will punish them and ruin their lives. So shouldn't we legalize it to make it safer???

Driver's licenses for undocumented Oregonians stir emotions at Capitol rally, hearing

Published: Monday, April 18, 2011, 8:51 PM Updated: Monday, April 18, 2011, 8:51 PM

By Harry Esteve, The Oregonian



SALEM -- The explosive issue of undocumented immigrants and driver's licenses returned Monday to the state Capitol, where speakers faced off in a sometimes emotional debate over a proposal to issue licenses to people who can't prove they're here legally.

Lawmakers are considering a bill to create an alternative license that could be used only for driving privileges and would not be considered an official identification card. It would not require proof of citizenship.

To set the tone, an immigrant rights group staged a rally that drew hundreds of mostly Latino families to the Capitol steps two hours before the hearing. They then packed into hearing rooms.

"We in the Latino community know how to exercise our rights," said Francisco Lopez, director of Causa, which organized the rally. If legislators don't make it easier for undocumented workers to get licenses, "they will face the anger of the Latino voter in 2012," he said.

Sen. Chip Shields, D-Portland, the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 845, said it is a nod to reality.

Oregon, like many states, is home to thousands of workers who don't have documentation that they are here legally, he said. Denying them driver's licenses doesn't make them leave. Instead, it ensures they don't take driving tests and don't buy insurance.

"This is all about public safety," Shields told the Senate Transportation Committee. "I'd rather have people driving on the roads who are licensed and insured."


Immigrants rally on Capitol steps Oregon lawmakers heard testimony on why they should or shouldn’t change the law to allow people to get a driver’s license without proof of citizenship. To set the tone, an immigrants rights group staged a rally on the Capitol steps two hours before the hearing. Watch video


Testimony included tearful statements from parents of children with special needs, who say they must have a license so they can drive their children to services.

But supporters of the bill were countered by an equally loud contingent of critics, who said it would fly in the face of state and federal law, and be a slap to legal residents.

"I'm surrounded by people who profess to be foreign nationals here illegally," said Cynthia Kendoll, a Salem resident who testified at the evening hearing. She said the state should be more concerned about the 200,000 people in Oregon legally and out of work.

"Why are you attempting to pass a bill that is likely to attract even more illegal aliens to our state?" Kendoll said.

If passed, the bill would roll back tighter requirements the Legislature put in place three years ago in response to federal concerns about terrorists entering the U.S. At the time, Congress was looking to enforce its 2005 Real ID Act. States were warned their licenses would be invalid for such things as boarding airplanes if they didn't impose tighter restrictions.

Since then, the deadline for complying with the act has been pushed back several times, most recently until 2013. States, wrestling with billion-dollar budget deficits, have put the issue on a back burner.

Jose Flores, a Gervais resident who attended the rally, illustrates the problem Shields sees. "My license expired a month ago," Flores said, but he still needs a car to get to his farm job near Silverton, where he drives a tractor and a truck.

He said he has been in Oregon for 15 years, after emigrating from Mexico when he was 18. He has since married and has three children.

The bill is the second one that has attracted big turnout from Latinos. The other, which remains in committee, would offer in-state college tuition to children of undocumented workers.

Shields said he doesn't expect his license bill to go much beyond Monday's hearing. But he wanted to give the issue some prominence in hopes that he can make progress on it next year.

www.oregonlive.com

SALEM -- The explosive issue of undocumented immigrants and driver's licenses returned Monday to the state Capitol, where speakers faced off in a sometimes emotional debate over a proposal to issue licenses to people who can't prove they're here legally.

Some are trying to defend citizens and this Country and others are doing all in their powers to destroy, neglect citizens and support illegal aliens. I hope 2012 will bring new changes, because we certainly need it desperaitly.