June 30, 2004

Yes, please Cecilia, do take a deep breath

John Kerry is not completely insane. At least in the political sense:

Democrat John Kerry said he opposes state laws that give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, a position that puts him at odds with the Hispanic activists he is courting in the presidential race.

Immigrant advocates have been pushing for the laws, saying they help undocumented workers get around safely. Licensed drivers know the rules of the road and can buy insurance, making streets safer for everyone, they say.

Shortly after Kerry told the National Council of La Raza on Tuesday that he would make immigration reform a top priority to ease the path to citizenship for working immigrants, he took a tougher stance on the issue of driver's licenses in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

"I think that driver's licenses are part of the legality of being here and if you've been here a period of time we may work something out as part of that immigration process, but I wouldn't give somebody who is automatically one year in here illegally all the rights and privileges of being here legally," Kerry said in the interview.

"I think that's wrong. That defeats the purposes of the law," he said.

Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, said Wednesday that Kerry's comments "somewhat undercut" his well-received speech before her organization.

"Let me take a deep breath here," Munoz said after hearing about Kerry's comments, then paused before continuing. "I guess what's frustrating is that Sen. Kerry was just at our conference making terrific proposals that would benefit the immigrant community. ... This stand is going to be much less well received."

Munoz said driver's licenses have nothing to do with granting legal status or protecting against terrorism, as other opponents of the laws have suggested...

Guess what? She's wrong, and probably lying.

Details of Kerry's plan to grant a general amnesty here.

Posted to Immigration2003 at June 30, 2004 08:09 PM

Comments

Licensed drivers know the rules of the road and can buy insurance, making streets safer for everyone, they say.

Ok, so as long as you know the rules of the road, and you're paying through the nose for insurance, the relative safety of the streets goes up by increasing the number of cars?

Enough already. They're in this country illegally. If you must drive, Pancho, then drive home.

Posted by: rst at July 1, 2004 08:00 AM

Talking out of her arse again...don't you need ID to fly?

"Such an effort is unlikely to be effective and will very likely be disruptive to the community that is here legally," said Cecilia Mu�oz, executive vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights organization.

"I am a native-born U.S. citizen, but I don't carry my passport around with me," Mu�oz said. "If I am at LAX and I am asked these questions, I don't have a way to prove that I am legally in this country."

Posted by: Pancho at July 15, 2004 02:00 PM