Thread: HELP: IL may vote next week for illegal driv. certificates..

We heard this morning that possibly as soon as next week they may vote for the driving certificates for illegal aliens in Illinois. So very odd when Tennessee is just about to rescind the whole program. The other side seems very confident.

If you have five minutes to send an email or call Illinoisans would be very grateful. The legal ones anyway.

Posted: Thursday, 10 May 2007 5:02AM

Drivers Certificates Have Good Chance of Passing

Metrosource Newswire Reporting
(Springfield, IL) Illinois' Latino lawmakers say they could see legal driving certificates for illegal immigrants as early as next week. The proposed law to create the new certificates is winding its way through the Capitol, but supporters say it's got its best shot in years. The plan failed a few years ago, but is now just a Senate vote away from the Governor's desk. Democrat Eddie Acevedo says Governor Blagojevich has told him he will sign the plan if it gets that far. There is still plenty of opposition, mostly from Downstate lawmakers. State Senator Tony Munoz says he's talking with suburban Republicans to see if they'll sign on.

http://www.wkrs.com/pages/438244.php?co ... tId=484772

Here is the email blocks again.

Group 1

senator@link30.org, susan@garrett98.com, munoz@senatedem.state.il.us, hunter@senatedem.state.il.us, lightford@senatedem.state.il.us, hendon@senatedem.state.il.us, john@senatorcullerton.com, carol@carolronen.org, silverstein@senatedem.state.il.us, senator@jschoenberg.org, deleo@senatedem.state.il.us, viverito@senatedem.state.il.us, sandoval@senatedem.state.il.us, meeks@senatedem.state.il.us

Group 2

SenatorCollins@sbcglobal.net, DonneETrotter@juno.com, crotty@senatedem.state.il.us, ilsenate20@aol.com, senatorcronin@aol.com, nanamom62612@yahoo.com, senator@kdillard.com, admin@lauzen.com, illsen26@aol.com, info@michaelbond31.com, palthoff@mc.net, info@senatordavesyverson.com, info@senatorbrad.com, Senatordahl38@yahoo.com, senatorharmon@donharmon.org, halvorson@senatedem.state.il.us, senatorrisinger@yahoo.com

Group 3

billbrady@senatorbillbrady.com, sentws@geneseo.net, sullivan@senatedem.state.il.us, senator_bomke@yahoo.com, danrutherford@danrutherford.com, johnojones@sbcglobal.net, drighter@consolidated.net, senhaine@cbnstl.com, clayborne@senatedem.state.il.us, sendavel@midwest.net

Here is a link to the phone numbers if there is anyone specific you'd like to call.


http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=58792

We're working on this right now.

fedupinW:

Are there particular people that need hammering the most?

And,

Do you have any other suggestions on points to raise, angles to work in our communications?

Thanx,

Apparently, I have jumped the gun as a newbie. Please wait for further information. I was simply horrified to read today that it may come up for a vote next week and I did not know the proper steps in this organization.

and finally

First of all, I understand your alarm and desperation. I know this is embarking your state on a road that everyone with sense will seriously regret. I refer to Tennessee's 2004 Drivers Certificates as a self inflicted wound. Dumb is the only word to describe the mentality to do such a thing to Illinois.

You will have so many people from other states coming to get a drivers certificate, bus loads full (I am a witness to that in Tennessee) and then lots will go to other states to do who knows what or they will turn that certificate in to receive a license in another state if they can transfer. The DMV agents may be bribed to give certificates to those who have no proof of residency.

I am afraid that too many people are willing to repeat what is a failed, costly program that will unlock a pandora's box of trouble. You obviously know that.

A bill to ban the state's driver certificate program for non-U.S. citizens is headed for the
governor's signature after passing the state Senate on Monday.

The measure, carried by Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis, would instead create temporary driver's licenses for legal residents.

The expiration date of the temporary licenses would be linked to the duration of residency visas.

The state in 2004 began issuing the certificates for non-U.S. residents that bore a notice that they could not be used for identification purposes. The certificates were available to anyone
who could prove they were a state resident.

Federal investigators last year found that some testing centers were selling licenses and certificates to out-of-state illegal immigrants. Tennessee suspended the program briefly, followed by new regulations that only allow certificates for people in the country legally.

The bill is part of Governor Bredesen's legislative package, and he is expected to sign it into law. The House passed the bill last week.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Under Tennessee's recently announced revised policy, applicants for a driving certificate will have to prove that they are in a lawful immigration status. The announcement follows a series of media reports that undocumented immigrants had been traveling to Tennessee from out of state in order to apply for driving certificates, using forged documents to make it appear that they resided in Tennessee. State employees also had been convicted of accepting bribes to issue certificates to out-of-state residents. How long the revised policy will remain in place is unclear. In a press release issued by the Dept. of Safety, its commissioner stated that he wanted to give the policy a "thorough review to ensure that we are doing what's best for Tennesseans."

The law under which driving certificates are issued replaced a 2001 law that allowed state residents, regardless of their immigration status, to obtain driver's licenses. The certificate law represented a compromise between those who wanted to eliminate undocumented immigrants' eligibility for driver's licenses and those who wanted to maintain the 2001 law.

http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/DLs/DL030.htm

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/n ... -0042.html

I am enclosing these links for you to read through. Some are old. Some are from the pro side, but maybe you will find the right words or the right argument.

http://www.tennessee.gov/safety/driverl ... icyfaq.htm
http://www.tennessee.gov/safety/driverl ... riving.htm
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:IhF ... ent=safari

http://www.etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/ ... 51212.html



http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:46 ... ent=safari


http://www.aamva.org/KnowledgeCenter/Dr ... lation.htm


http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/DLs/DL014.htm[code][quote]

Friday, 06/25/04

Driving certificates turning into IDs

By ANITA WADHWANI
Staff Writer

State troopers will honor new driving certificates for immigrants as valid identification, even though they are stamped with the words ''not valid for ID.'' The previously unannounced policy surprised and angered some supporters of the new law yesterday, even as it pleased others.

''That's news to me,'' said Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, who persuaded colleagues last month to support the new driver's license law, described as the ''strictest in the nation'' by Gov. Phil Bredesen, its main architect.

Controversy has swirled over the certificates, which will be issued instead of driver's licenses to temporary immigrants and those who can't prove they're in this country legally. The new state law goes fully into effect July 1.

If the documents are accepted as valid ID, the original intent of the law — tightening national security issues while still making sure all drivers in Tennessee are qualified — could be undermined, some officials said.

''That's not how it was sold to the state legislature. That's not their position when we passed the bill. I'll be making a phone call in the morning'' to the governor's office and safety department, Ketron said.

Earlier this month, Department of Safety officials said they would advise state troopers and local law enforcement to reject the certificates as identification, but yesterday spokeswoman Beth Denton said troopers will accept the wallet-sized laminated cards as valid ID when issuing misdemeanor tickets.

However, she said, ''it's important to know that troopers retain the discretion and authority to maintain that an individual can properly identify themselves.''

Denton said 99% of misdemeanors issued by troopers were for traffic violations, but the certificates also would be accepted as ID for other misdemeanors as well.

Some immigrant advocates said it made practical sense for troopers to honor the certificates as legitimate ID.

''If the purpose of the driving certificate is to allow its holder to drive in the state of Tennessee, then arresting a certificate holder simply for driving'' without other forms of ID ''means that the law will be unlikely to accomplish its purpose,'' said David Lubell of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Opponents of the law, such as Rep. Donna Rowland, R-Murfreesboro, said that the decision ''was at odds with what this administration wanted to have happen with this legislation.''

''It just proves, as I've said before, that this is going to become a means of identification sooner or later,'' she said. ''The drawback to that is we have no way of knowing who these people are.''

The governor's office referred all calls about the driving certificates to the Department of Safety.

Applicants for the certificates have to show two proofs of identification and two proofs of residency, none of which need to include a photo, according to the safety department Web site.

It's uncertain whether all police departments will honor the certificates as ID. Law-enforcement officers have the right to take people into custody if they don't have proof of identity. Nashville's police will honor the certificate, while others across the state have asked their legal departments to advise them on the issue.

Until it is clear what various police departments will do, Lubell's group is advising immigrants who get the certificates to carry extra ID, such as a passport, in their cars.

http://www.tennessean.com/government/ar ... 9732.shtml