"Illegal" is Code for Racism and Hispanic Hatred

NEW YORK (By Stiletto) October 29th, 2007 — Last month, New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) would reverse a post-9/11 policy by the Pataki administration to deny a driver’s license to anyone who could not prove legal status – immediately prompting at least a dozen county clerks who operate DMV offices as agents of the state to announce they would flout the new rules.

To combat identity fraud, all but eight states – HI, ME, MD, MI, NM, OR, UT and WA –require drivers to prove legal status to obtain driver’s licenses.

Spitzer did an about-face only after the state’s top Dem leaders warned that the controversial move would imperil the prospects of state Senate candidates, leading to "unprecedented losses" in November – and may even cost Hillary the state in the presidential race. And their fears are not unfounded: Upset New Yorkers rallied at the Capitol in Albany, calling for the governor’s impeachment or recall.

Last week, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus took a break from enshrining Clinton Administration policies with his all-out effort to kill the Armenian Genocide Resolution to tell The Washington Post:

"This issue, illegal immigration, has real implications for the country. It captures all the American people’s anger and frustration not only with immigration, but with the economy. It’s self-evident. This is a big problem."

"For the American people, and therefore all of us, it’s emerged as the third rail of American politics. And anyone who doesn’t realize that isn’t with the American people."

Spitzer finally listened to reason or panic and abandoned his insistence that drivers’ licenses for illegals be identical to standard licenses issued by the DMV and has now endorsed a different design, along with markings that prevent their use as ID when entering a federal building or boarding a plane. The state has also agreed to participate in the federal Real ID program, which requires drivers’ license applicants to prove legal residency and identity – a valid passport or visa and a verifiable Social Security number, for instance.

Those who earn their livings undermining every law meant to secure our borders, predictably condemned Spitzer, reports The Times:

The separate licenses could serve as an invitation for law enforcement to arrest anyone carrying one on immigration charges, said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She added that the new proposal could send illegal immigrants further into the shadows, compelling them to drive with forged or no licenses and without insurance.

As Spitzer and other politicians are dealing with the reality of an electorate enraged over illegal immigration, liberals prefer the fantasy that the real ill in "illegal" is racism, not lawlessness. This from Lawrence Downes, who has been a member of The Times’ editorial board since 2004: I am a human pileup of illegality. I am an illegal driver and an illegal parker and even an illegal walker, having at various times stretched or broken various laws and regulations that govern those parts of life. The offenses were trivial, and I feel sure I could endure the punishments — penalties and fines — and get on with my life. Nobody would deny me the chance to rehabilitate myself. Look at Martha Stewart, illegal stock trader, and George Steinbrenner, illegal campaign donor, to name two illegals whose crimes exceeded mine.

Good thing I am not an illegal immigrant. There is no way out of that trap. It’s the crime you can’t make amends for. Nothing short of deportation will free you from it, such is the mood of the country today. And that is a problem.

[b]America has a big problem with illegal immigration, but a big part of it stems from the word “illegal.â€