Driver's license-related Immigration News Archives
This is a very large file. For the full smaller digest version, click here.Dozens of special interest aliens might have received New Mexico driver's licenses
From this:FBI agents on Wednesday busted 10 people they termed "special interest illegal aliens" for allegedly trying to use fraudulent documents to get New Mexico drivers licenses.
...While the FBI isn't saying which countries the 10 came from, the news release said "certain countries are associated with special national security concerns," and that using the term "special interest alien" depends on which a given person is from.
According to the news release, investigators are still working on the investigation, and believe that dozens of "special interest illegal aliens" may have obtained New Mexico licensees using fraudulent documents.
Barack Obama reiterates support for driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Carolyn Lochhead)
Carolyn Lochhead of the San Francisco Chronicle offers this:Sen. Barack Obama easily won the African American vote in South Carolina, but to woo California Latinos, where he is running 3-to-1 behind rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, he is taking a giant risk: spotlighting his support for the red-hot issue of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.She's actually right about most of that, but she forgot to include New York governor Eliot Spitzer in her list of casualties. It also isn't clear from her article who exactly is renewing Obama's support for those who've broken our laws; no quotes from Obama or an official spokesman are provided.
It's a huge issue for Latinos, who want them. It's also a huge issue for the general electorate, which most vehemently does not. Obama's stand could come back to haunt him not only in a general election, but with other voters in California, where driver's licenses for illegal immigrants helped undo former Gov. Gray Davis.
It's also not entirely true that "Latinos... want them". Latinos who are here legally can already get them. As for those who put their race ahead of the best interests of their country, see page 14 of the 2007 Pew Hispanic Survey (pewhispanic.org/files/reports/84.pdf). Respondents were asked whether there should be a check for immigration status before granting a license. 85% of non-Hispanics said yes, as did 40% of all Hispanics. A majority of native-born Hispanics (56%) said yes, but a majority of foreign-born Hispanics (66%) said no. Whether any of the latter included illegal aliens isn't clear.
So, just as long as Obama goes for the foreign-born Hispanics (perhaps including illegal aliens), he's got it made. It's only the other 75%+ of American citizens he needs to worry about.
The article also quotes Gil Cedillo and former Clinton administration official Federico Pena, who's now a supporter of Obama. In 2006 he led a group that tried to thwart a Proposition 187-style measure in Colorado and the spokeswoman for that group was the vile Polly Baca, meaning that Pena is linked at least tangentially linked into the Western Union gravy train.
More on Obama's immigration issues here.
One Bill Gil Cedillo brings back illegal aliens driver's licenses (January 2008 edition)
From this:Saying Friday's release of final regulations in the U.S. REAL ID Act clears the way, a Los Angeles Democrat said he will move ahead with a bill that would let illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses.Unlike Gray Davis did shortly before being recalled, Arnie has vetoed past attempts, and, in addition to the security standards, a spokeswoman appears to be using another objection as a dodge: waiting for "comprehensive immigration reform". And, the California DMV has its own objections to Real ID. And, even Cedillo has admitted that three-quarters of Californians oppose his scheme.
State Sen. Gil Cedillo has previously proposed such legislation, but it has been vetoed repeatedly by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has noted that federal officials have not yet adopted security standards to make licenses more tamper-proof.
Cedillo plans to use his bill, SB 60 - which has been parked on the Assembly floor since last year - to relaunch his effort.
More on Cedillo at his name's link above or here:
National Latino Congreso: "No Human Being is Illegal", Nativo Lopez, Gil Cedillo, Kucinich, Cuban Five, Fairness Doctrine, and more!
Gil Cedillo's SB 1 would create "Office of Immigrant Affairs"
Gil Cedillo, Peter Schey, LULAC, MALDEF, more at Migrant March II
Michael Chertoff: Real ID will lead to "reconfiguring our society"
From thisSecretary Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security, announced a set of final revisions to the controversial Real ID Act in a press conference this morning. It's not clear at this point how extensive those revisions truly are, but it is clear that DHS feels that the rules are now in their final form and that the period for discussion, revision, and dispute is now over...I hate to side, even slightly, with the ACLU on this, but it would certainly be nice if there were no Real ID. It's unfortunate that "civil libertarians" from the ACLU have worked to both enable illegal immigration and try to undercut other ways to fight terrorism.
Chertoff first addressed privacy advocates by declaring, "We are not going to have a national database." Rather, Real ID will link databases together with a unified query service, in a manner that enables them to function as a de facto national database. (See the difference?)
"This is a great teaching moment on the challenges of really reconfiguring our society so that we can take reasonable steps to secure ourselves in a way that is nevertheless consistent with our civil liberties and our prosperity," Chertoff said in the Q&A session following the announcement.
Clueless Peter Beinart: driver's licenses for illegal aliens is "trivial" issue
Peter Beinart (a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations) offers "A Non-Story Remakes the Race". While it contains several other of his "thoughts", this one is relevant to this category:
In recent weeks, the Democratic primary campaign has frequently revolved around small, even trivial, issues -- driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, rumors of planted questions at town-hall meetings and dirty tricks -- that supposedly testify to the character of the candidates.
As the posts in this category will show, driver's licenses for illegal aliens is not a "trivial" issue. File this away under "Beltway Cluelessness".
Barack Obama supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens, misleads about incentives
On this video from tonight's CNN Democratic debate (youtube.com/watch?v=UQXYYIdjjFg via this), Barack Obama does a partial Hillary Clinton on driver's licenses for illegal aliens, before unequivocally supporting them (followed only by, "but, I am going to be fighting for comprehensive immigration reform"; the "but" part generated peals of laughter from the audience).
In addition to his chances being damaged by the fumbling, it would be nice if the other statements he made were damaging as well:
...the problem we have here is not driver's licenses. Undocumented workers don't come here to drive... they're not coming here to go to the In-N-Out Burger [1]... that's not the reason they're here, they're here to work. And, so, instead of being distracted by what has now become a wedge issue, let's focus on actually solving the problem that this administration, the Bush administration, has done nothing about...
There are at least five - yes, five - things wrong with that statement that I, had I been moderating, would have called Obama on:
1. First and most minor, they're illegal aliens, not "undocumented workers".
2. Isn't Obama actually welcoming the current situation? Doesn't he actually want those illegal aliens to remain here, and does he actually consider it that important an issue that millions of foreign citizens have come here illegally? Isn't he an apologist for the current situation?
3. The Bush administration hasn't just "done nothing about" illegal immigration, they've actively encouraged, enabled, and promoted it. And, the Democrats have done the same. Perhaps Obama would like to enumerate all the steps that Democratic Party leaders took to try to prevent the current situation from developing (here's an eighth-page of paper where he can write it down).
4. Just because they aren't coming here for driver's licenses and other goodies doesn't mean that those don't play a part. If, for instance, people in foreign lands knew that they wouldn't be able to work here, get welfare benefits, get educations, get driver's licenses or even get library cards, very few would try to come here. The more incentives are offered to illegal aliens, the greater their ability to live here. So, while driver's licenses might not be the main draw, they do play a role in increasing illegal immigration, at least to those states that offer them. Obama is being intellectually dishonest (assuming he can even figure that out in the first place).
5. The solution to the problem offered by Obama will only make the situation worse through things such as discouraging respect for our laws, encouraging even more illegal immigration, giving even more political power to racial demagogues and to foreign governments, and so on.
It's good that Wolf Blitzer's questions resulted in Barack Obama being derided, but it would have been even better if he had helped end his political career by pointing out how misleading he is.
UPDATE: See also Campbell Brown/CNN asks simplistic question, gets stock Barack Obama answer (benefits for illegal aliens).
[1] In-N-Outs are only in CA/AZ/NV; Obama's doing a shout-out and in Texas he would have said "Whataburger" (sadly there are none of those in CA).
Eliot Spitzer drops driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Hillary updates position)
Presumably not wanting to join Hillary's List, New York governor Eliot Spitzer will announce tomorrow that he's shelving his unpopular plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens (link):
The governor's office signaled to New York lawmakers Tuesday that the morning of the meeting, he will say he is shelving the plan and that immigration is a federal issue to be handled by Washington, according to congressional aides who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.
I'd say it worked out quite well: he not only made immigration a factor in the presidential race, he damaged both Hillary Clinton's chances and his political career.
UPDATE: Fire up your Clintonian Parsing Machine! Per this she's now come out against the licenses, when it seemed to me that she was for them despite her claims to the contrary. From her statement:
"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal... As president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."
Of course, as pointed out before, there will be many illegal aliens not covered under "reform" as well as many additional people who will come here illegally, leading to a continuation of the issue of unlicensed drivers. And, while she might not support giving illegal aliens driver's licenses herself, I wonder whether her statement would allow her to support governors who want to give them licenses. Or, whether she'd change her mind should "reform" fail yet again.
Rasmussen poll: 77% oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens
Thanks Hillary Clinton (and Eliot Spitzer)! A new Fox 5/Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll says that 77% oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens, with only 16% supporting the idea. Opposition is at 88% for Republicans, 75% for independents, and 68% for Democrats.
Hillary Clinton now supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times offers this:Hillary Rodham Clinton offered support today for Gov. Eliot Spitzer's effort to award New York driver's licenses to illegal immigrants...Apparently, those advisors think that embracing a position that three-quarters or so of Americans oppose is better than being seen as someone who evades questions.
"Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform,'" her campaign said.
Mrs. Clinton's aides said her statement was intended to signal that she broadly supported Mr. Spitzer's goal of awarding driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants...
...Mrs. Clinton's advisers said that she had not studied either plan, and was not specifically endorsing either of them...
Of course, Nagourney and the other MSM hacks won't now point out that reform would not only not fix the issue, it would make it worse.
Hillary's double-dodge on illegal aliens driver's licenses; +, go for it, Dems!
One perhaps overlooked part of Hillary Clinton's wishy-washy non-answer to the question concerning driver's licenses for illegal aliens concerns this:
[New York governor Eliot Spitzer is] making an honest effort to [bring illegal aliens "out of the shadows"]. We should have passed immigration reform.
The "reform" she mentions wouldn't solve the problem. "Reform" will send a loud message to millions and millions around the world that our immigration laws mean nothing, and they'll respond by trying to come here illegally.
So, even if "reform" were to pass, New York would still have plenty of new illegal aliens (encouraged to come here by "reform") as well as those who were there before reform but who weren't covered by it for one reason or another or who didn't want to take advantage of it. Obviously, if we had real debates she would have been called on her implication that "reform" would completely resolved the issue rather than making it far worse.
On a related note, Hillary has found a defender in none other than Jonathan Singer of MyDD.com [1]. Since that site has deleted a few comments I left there I'm not going to bother helping them understand how they're wrong, but I sincerely wish them the best of luck:
No doubt this isn't the most popular move at this juncture. But with a bit of explanation and political capital (and real capital) invested in making the argument, I think there are a lot of people -- particularly the large proportion of Americans in favor of a path to legalization or citizenship for illegal immigrants -- who could be swayed. And even for those whose positions are particularly hardened at this point so that they would not be swayed, it's not clear to me that the issue is salient enough to make them change their mind about a presidential election when other issues like Iraq, Iran, the economy and healthcare continue to loom large.
No. Please. Don't do it. Supporting driver's licenses for illegal aliens - and doing so in a loud way involving lots of political capital - is the thing that I most fear. It would drive millions of Americans to vote Democrat. No. Please. Don't do it.
I also note that past Singer posts at MyDD have been sponsored by AFSCME [2] and SEIU [3]. No one appears to have picked up the tab for his brilliant advice above.
[1] mydd.com/story/2007/10/31/141810/86
[2] mydd.com/story/2007/2/21/14555/2059
[3] mydd.com/story/2007/3/24/115150/071
Spitzer supporter: "You made me make a fool out of myself" (details on his switch)
This article (link) provides the insider details on how and why Eliot Spitzer "caved" and decided to only give a limited driver's license to illegal aliens. A taste:To try to smooth some of the anger, Mr. Spitzer invited [State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.] and a half-dozen other lawmakers, most of them Hispanic and defenders of the original plan, to an Upper East Side diner on Sunday morning to explain his decision.
Feelings were frayed, and the meeting grew emotional. At one point, Mr. Spitzer asked Mr. Diaz to lower his voice because they were in a public place.
"You made me make a fool out of myself," Mr. Diaz told the governor...
New York Times to Eliot Spitzer: die on the driver's licenses for illegal aliens hill
Another day, another New York Times immigration editorial. This time, they're wrong about DLs for IAs in "Governor Spitzer Retreats" (link). They wanted him to be a good soldier in the NYT's war for illegal immigration and stick to the original plan no matter how much it hurt him:Gov. Eliot Spitzer has confronted the most intense public criticism of his political career - and caved. Not so long ago, Mr. Spitzer was doing the right and brave thing, planning to offer driver's licenses to qualified but undocumented immigrants. The plan was inherently fair and would have made the state and its roads safer. Unfortunately, it also made Mr. Spitzer the target of some very nasty rhetoric from his political opponents, while his allies offered mostly weak-kneed support...
[...blather and stuffing deleted...]
Governor Spitzer's pivot from his difficult stand on driver's licenses is a disappointment. The way he swiftly made, and then unmade, this decision is unsettling. It revives questions about whether this rookie governor seeks enough wise counsel and then listens to it. It leaves us wondering whether Mr. Spitzer has the willpower to remain focused on his better plans and better instincts in the future.
Hillary Clinton: soft on driver's licenses for illegal aliens (Obama supports it)
I'll replace the following with a transcript when it's available, but from tonight's Democratic debate:[Hillary Clinton says:] [Eliot Spitzer] is trying to make up for the failure of the Bush Administration to address illegal immigration. He's filling a vaccuum... We need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform."UPDATE: The exchange starts on page 20. Chris Dodd is actually stronger against this then I would have given him credit for:
Only Dodd thinks that illegal immigrants should not have driver's licenses.
Hillary refuses to say she supports it, but says she understands why Spitzer is doing it.
Dodd tries to go after her, and seems to succeed. "But what is the identification if someone runs into you today?" She says, "It makes a lot of sense. What is a governor supposed to do? We have failed, and George W. Bush has failed to address this issue."
Clinton: Well, I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do...
(Unknown): Wait a minute...
Clinton: And we have failed. We have failed.
Dodd: No, no, no. You said -- you said yes...
Clinton: No.
Dodd: ... you thought it made sense to do it.
Clinton: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving...
Dodd: That's a legitimate issue. But driver's license goes too far, in my view.
Clinton: Well, you may say that, but what is the identification?
If somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker...
Dodd: There's ways of dealing with that.
Clinton: Well...
Dodd: This is a privilege, not a right.
Clinton: Well, what Governor Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses, one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues, another which is another ordinary driver's license, and then a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road, so...
Dodd: That's a bureaucratic nightmare.
Clinton: ... it's not the full privilege.
Russert: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure of what I heard. Do you, the New York senator, Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license?
You told the New Hampshire paper that it made a lot of sense. Do you support his plan?
Clinton: You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays "gotcha." It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problems. We have failed. And George Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York, we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows.
He's making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform.
Feds strike deal on Eliot Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens (victory or defeat?)
(Picture associated with UPDATE 3 below)
From this:
The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver's licenses for U.S. citizens, but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version.The first tier is an "enhanced" license, followed by one that complies with the REAL ID Act. The third tier is one just for those who are making money for corrupt businesses and banks and who just might vote for Democrats, i.e., illegal aliens. They wouldn't be valid as federal ID. As Rep. Peter King says, this might be a defeat for Spitzer because few illegal aliens might want the licenses since they would strongly indicate that the bearer is here illegally. Needless to say, "immigrant rights" groups will probably protest it for that reason.
...Saturday's agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government's post-Sept. 11 effort to make identification cards more secure [joining Arizona, Vermont and Washington].
...Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was not happy that New York intended to issue IDs to illegal immigrants. But he said there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"I don't endorse giving licenses to people who are not here legally, but federal law does allow states to make that choice," Chertoff said.
The governor made clear he is going forward with his plan allowing licenses for illegal immigrants. But advocates on both sides of the debate said Spitzer had caved to pressure by adopting the administration's stance on tighter security standards for most driver's licenses.
UPDATE: The plan won't go into effect until mid to late 2008. Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola says he'll continue his plan to sue to try to prevent any kind of licenses being issued to illegal aliens. And, as predicted, those on the other side are complaining, with Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, saying:
"He has crossed the line to the other side, letting his good name be used to promote an anti-immigrant, junk security measure in the Real ID."Here are some details on the tiers:
A lower-level license for driving and state ID purposes will be available to illegal aliens and citizens. The license will carry the words "Not for U.S. government purposes" and won't be acceptable ID for boarding a plane, entering a federal facility like a courtroom, or crossing the border.The "WHTI" sounds like it warrants a bit more research.
A more expensive second license, a federally recognized document that meets the REAL ID security requirements enacted by Congress in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will be available to citizens and legal aliens and will be good for boarding a plane or accessing federal facilities.
The third document, known as an "enhanced driver's license," will be strictly for U.S. citizens. It will carry all the federal benefits of the REAL ID, plus allow New Yorkers to cross the border into Canada without a passport under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
UPDATE 2: Ray Rivera of the New York Times offers "Governor Accused of Betraying Principles", which will probably be repurposed as an NYT immigration editiorial. It contains a similar Chung-Wha Hong quote, together with this:
[Hong] said having separate licenses would amount to a scarlet letter for illegal immigrants. "I know I'm speaking for millions of immigrants when I say I just feel so thoroughly betrayed."If Rivera were a real reporter he would have called her on that. Isn't she basically play-acting? "Immigrants" - those who've pledged to abide by our laws - can get the middle-tier, normal licenses. Is she making the false claim that most legal immigrants feel solidarity with illegal aliens? To the extent that that's true, isn't that more of either a personal thing (mixed status families) or a racial solidarity issue? Is encouraging either of those good public policy?
And, never fear, the ACLU is here:
The separate licenses could also 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.That's what's happening already, so it's not going to get worse just because they won't get the new, special licenses just for them.
UPDATE 3: The picture at the top of this post is apparently from a protest which was held today in front of Spitzer's NYC office (link). Hong was apparently there, as well as another play-actor:
"You have forsaken a practical policy that would have been a benefit for all New Yorkers - for what? For just your own short-sighted political cover," said S.J. Jung of [Young Korean American Service and Education Center]. "Today, New Yorkers are outraged by your flip-flopping and New Yorkers are ashamed to have someone like you as our governor."YKASEC is also a member of the "New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights", a group that wants to let "immigrants" vote; whether that means illegal aliens or not isn't known. They also say that "New York government officials do not adequately reflect the faces of the people they represent."
How badly has Spitzer's corrupt scheme failed? He's lost support among law-abiding New Yorkers, and he's also lost the support of at least the leaders of a couple groups that, like him, support illegal activity. On one hand it's good that his career has been damaged; on the other hand, it would be better if there were no licenses for illegal aliens at all.
Spitzer driver's licenses and illegal aliens voting (Motor Voter)
From this:A new front has opened up in the war over Gov. Eliot Spitzer's undocumented immigrants driver's license controversy - the voting booth.New York DMV first sent out a memo saying that Motor Voter apps were only for those who supplied a Social Security number. That was followed the same day by another memo saying clerks can't withhold MV forms and should just send them all to the registrar of voters. Spitzer's office said the second was the policy all along. Keep reading:
The latest battle lines are being drawn over how the state processes what is popularly called "motor voter" applications, where those seeking drivers' licenses can at the same time register to vote.
Critics say Spitzer is not only compromising security by licensing undocumented immigrants, but he also is opening the door to a flood of illegal voters. Aides to Spitzer say he is just following the existing law, and the new rules will improve security and public safety.
However, John McArdle, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), said several upstate clerks have told their office that the new directive is a "total reversal" of past practice. "This strips back the veil of what their intentions have been all along - to register as many illegals as they can," McArdle said.Maybe it's time for the Feds to step in and take a closer look at Eliot Spitzer.
Frank Merola, Rensselaer's Republican county clerk, said that before the Oct. 2 change listing the Social Security number on the license application automatically opened the option for going to the motor voter screen on the computer. The latest change eliminates that safeguard, he added.
Richard Clarke endorses Spitzer license scheme; opposed DLs for illegal aliens in June
Richard Clarke - former counterterrorism adviser to Bill Clinton and George Bush - has endorsed Elliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, saying:
States should act to register immigrants, legal and illegal, who use our roadways as New York is doing... From a law enforcement and security perspective, it is far preferable for the state to know who is living in it and driving on its roads . . . than to have large numbers of people living in our cities whose identity is totally unknown to the government.
Just one problem: back on June 1 of this year, he wrote a New York Times editorial called "A Back Door for Terrorists" (link):
...The Real ID Act of 2005, which among other things established standards for state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver's identification cards, has now been put off until at least 2009. And many states are in open revolt against its tough requirements for issuing driver's licenses... The result is that potential terrorists here illegally can easily use phony licenses or, in many states, get real ones issued to them, along with credit cards and all of the other papers needed to blend into our society. (The only places in this country that seem to check the validity of drivers' licenses are bars in college neighborhoods.) Indeed, those arrested for allegedly planning to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey included illegal immigrants who apparently had little difficulty getting along in this country.
Asked to explain himself, Clarke said it was because New York's licensing requirements are tough. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with him seeking some sort of political or financial gain.
NY Sen. Jose M. Serrano supports Spitzer's illegal aliens driver's licenses
New York state senator Jose Serrano supports New York governor Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give illegal aliens driver's licenses. In this post he discusses an appearance on the Lou Dobbs show: first he race-baits and plays the victim card, implying that those who support enforcement of our immigration laws are racists. That, of course, is to be expected. Then:The 9/11 Commission determined that restricting access to driver's licenses based on immigration status would not have prevented the attacks.I strongly suspect that he's not telling the whole truth. While I've discussed Chapter 3 of the 9/11 Commission Staff Report as well as other parts, I don't have time to scour the full report in order to find out whether he's lying and what he isn't telling us. However, you can leave comments at the link if you're more familiar with this and would like to discredit him.
In fact, in the long list of proposals to make the licensing system more secure, the Commission explicitly did not recommend denying driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants as a measure that would prevent another attack.
The Commission did, however, recommend that states take immediate steps to increase the security of their licenses, which is an integral part of the Governor's plan.
See also:
The 9/11 hijackers and driver's licenses
9/11 hijacker used bypass code to obtain California [driver's] license
9/11 hijackers were illegal aliens; Senate bill would have given them a loophole
"Immigration Laws Might Have Stopped Sept. 11 Plot"
DOH UPDATE: I originally stated this was from Rep. Jose E. Serrano, but now I see this is from someone else: Jose M. Serrano, a state senator and not a Congressman.
Smoking gun emails: Spitzer retaliated against opponent of his driver's license scheme
From this:
A key Republican lawmaker [Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady)] disclosed several "smoking gun" e-mails yesterday showing [New York governor Eliot Spitzer]'s administration had OK'd funding for a local health-care clinic last month - before suddenly canceling the grant on Monday after his attack on Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens...
Spitzer claimed it was for budgetary reasons, but the emails indicate otherwise.
72% oppose Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens; lowest rating ever
From this:
Seventy-two percent of New York voters who have read or heard about the [New York governor Eliot Spitzer's] proposal to allow undocumented aliens to obtain New York driver's licenses oppose the Governor's plan, while only 22 percent support it, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters released today. The Siena New York poll also shows that Eliot Spitzer’s job performance rating is lower than it has ever been, with a majority of voters saying he's doing a fair or poor job. If the 2010 gubernatorial race were held today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, running as a Republican, would beat Democrat Spitzer 50-37 percent...
Clerk arrested in Rhode Island driver's licenses scam has minor links to Democrats
Two Rhode Island DMV clerks (Soraya Santiago and Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme) have been arrested for selling driver's licenses to illegal aliens and drug dealers. From this:...[Rodriguez-LaFlamme]... had already been ordered deported. Her application for adjusted immigration status had been denied after a federal investigation discovered two fraudulent marriages, according to a state police affidavit. LaFlamme is appealing the deportation order.
Some who know LaFlamme from her political action in the Latino community said they knew about her immigration issues. LaFlamme had volunteered on a number of election campaigns for Democrats, including those for U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, and City Councilman Nicholas Narducci Jr.
Yesterday, Narducci said he learned LaFlamme wasn't a citizen last year when she tried to run for a seat on the Ward 4 Democratic committee. She had posted her campaign on a page on Narducci's Web site — touting her employment at the Registry and that she'd come to this country from the Dominican Republic in 1996, and borrowing Narducci's election slogan "A New Beginning." But Narducci said another candidate eventually ran for the seat when it was discovered that LaFlamme was ineligible to vote. She was put on the Ward's community action committee instead.
State Rep. Anastasia Williams, D-Providence, a close friend of Laflamme, said yesterday she didn't know what type of visa LaFlamme entered with, or how long it would have allowed LaFlamme to remain in the United States legally. Williams said that LaFlamme "had gotten married to someone here, while she was still in good standing."
9/11 Commish: al Qaeda "will be able to come to New York" with Spitzer driver's licenses
From this:Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer's new policy that permits illegal immigrants to obtain New York State driver's licenses is "an absurd" decision that will provide a new gateway for terrorists, a member of the federal commission that investigated the 2001 World Trade Center attacks warns.
"It's a perfect formula for al-Qaida. They won't be able to resist it. They will be able to come to New York," said John Lehman, a former secretary of the Navy who served on the 9/11 Commission that warned of the nation's vulnerabilities to terrorist strikes...
"It is not logical," he said of the Spitzer policy, adding: "As we know, New York is target number one."
Spitzer's plan "is going to make life easier for illegals," especially terrorists, counterfeiters and others who will have easy access to a valuable piece of identification, Lehman said...
Oregon gov. Kulongoski wants driver's licenses for illegal aliens, admits it's to help businesses
From this:Gov. Ted Kulongoski is suggesting a two-tiered system for Oregon driver's licenses: one card for those who can prove they're citizens and another for those who can't.The issue apparently won't come up for a vote until February, but if you're in that state you can start calling his office now. Or, go to his public appearances and ask him tough questions about his plans.
...The license for those who provide proof of "legal presence" would become an official identification card, for use at airports, banks and other places that require ID. The other license would be for driving privileges only and would be stamped "not for identification."
...[Kulongoski] said he wants to bring Oregon into compliance with the federal Real ID Act as a way to stem the tide of identity thefts and to help guard the nation against terrorist attacks...
Afterward, however, he said he also wants to allow driving privileges to people who can't prove they're in the country legally. Not doing so would create problems for workers who lack such proof and their employers, Kulongoski said...
New York Immigration Coalition supports Spitzer driver's licenses for illegal aliens plan
It's no suprise that the New York Immigration Coalition - a group that doesn't seem to understand the word "illegal" - would come out in support (link) of Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.UPDATE: If you're in NY state, there's a petition - including a printable version - here.
And, from "Spitzer's licensing plan has some Dems worried" (link):
But Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic chairman, worried that Republicans will use the licensing issue to tar Democrats in all local races. "I wish the governor would have consulted with some of the suburban counties that he is impacting with this licensing proposal," he said.
But Jay Jacobs, Nassau Democratic chairman, downplayed the issue's impact on local races, saying it is a state issue, not a local one. "It may be an issue in 2008, but not this year," he said.
...In Suffolk, Legis. Jack Eddington (D-Medford) and Democratic legislative candidate Brian Beedenbender have already come out against Spitzer's plan and are circulating petitions against it.
The Suffolk Legislature's presiding officer, William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), called Spitzer's plan "troubling," saying, "I don't think he thought it out all the way."
Wed. 10/3: open forum against Eliot Spitzer's driver's licenses for illegal aliens plan
Tomorrow, October 3 at 10am in Manhattan various state Republicans will be leading a meeting to discuss New York governor Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
Those attending include Rep. Tom Tancredo, columnist/former INS employee Mike Cutler, Peter Gadiel (9/11 Families for a Secure America) and T.J. Bonner (National Border Patrol Council). Details here.
Michael Bloomberg, DHS against Spitzer illegal aliens driver's licenses plan
From this:[New York governor Eliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens] starts in December but is already under fire from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a pro-immigration politician who said the change could lead to the state's licenses not being acceptable proof of identification for air travel.Related:
Bloomberg said Wednesday that the city's lawyer "does believe that in fact this would make New York's state driver's licenses ineligible to be used to get on an airplane. People would need other form of identification, generally a passport, and that would be a very big problem."
"I'm really skeptical that we should be issuing driver's licenses willy-nilly," he added Thursday, "because it then leads to lots of other problems in terms of voter registration and other things. But it's the governor's call."
[Spitzer replies:] "He is wrong at every level _ dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong."
..."There is a known vulnerability in state-issued driver's licenses today and shame on us if we don't fix that vulnerability," [Russ Knocke, a DHS spokesman] said. "Anything that would complicate the enforcement of our immigration laws would be concerning, and anything that would frustrate efforts for more secure identification would be troubling."
New York county clerks oppose Spitzer on driver's licenses for illegal aliens
New York county clerks oppose Spitzer on driver's licenses for illegal aliens
New York governor Eliot Spitzer wants to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. Now, some county clerks are pushing back:[Otsego County Clerk Kathy Sinnott-Gardner says:] "I don't see why we should make the requirements more lenient for illegal immigrants than they are for our own citizens."There may be a special session of their legislature in October. Those clerks opposed to rule may ask applicants to go to offices run by the state itself.
...State Assemblyman Peter Lopez, R-Schoharie, a former county clerk, said, "I'm stunned. This doesn't make any sense, and I think it puts our communities at risk."
...State Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, said he doesn't believe that Spitzer has the legal authority to circumvent the state law mandating Social Security numbers or SSA documents to obtain a driver's license.
"I can't believe that in the post-9/11 era, the governor is doing this," Seward said.
..."How can we be more secure with less security?" [Frank Merola, a Republican who is Rensselaer County clerk] said Tuesday. "What this is going to do is diminish the value of a license as an indication that someone is here legally. I don't see how that helps at all."
On the other side, those apparently supporting Spitzer's plan include: acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton, state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, and state Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Balboni.
Eliot Spitzer jeopardizes New Yorkers safety for votes (drivers licenses for illegal aliens)
New York governor Eliot Spitzer will allow illegal aliens to get New York driver's licenses beginning in 2008. You may recall New York City as home to a terror attack that took place on 9/11/01 and whose perpetrators were able to obtain 35 or so driver's licenses from various states. That includes those like California that - as New York will - make special allowances for illegal aliens.From this:
That change clashes with the 2005 REAL ID law passed by Congress that states require, among other things, a Social Security number in order to get a license. States have until December 2009 to be in compliance.Related:
States that fail to meet the standards will lose their certification by the Department of Homeland Security, meaning that driver's licenses in those states will no longer be valid for air travel, entry to federal facilities and for tax purposes.
Travelers will now have to carry a second form of ID, like a passport, which was met with criticism yesterday.
"To outright dismiss the security needs of our state and nation and provide illegal aliens documentation is dangerous and inconceivable," said Sen. Dale Volker (R-Depew).
"Gov. Spitzer should not view New York state driver's licenses like baseball cards - handing them out just to score political points."
Does Eliot Spitzer support U.S. laws?
Illinois House approves driver's licenses for illegal aliens
The Illinois House approved HR 1100 earlier today, which would give illegal aliens "driving certificates" which supposedly would (link to text):
clearly state on its face that it may not be accepted by any federal agency for any federal identification or other official purpose... [and] ...may not be used to obtain a Firearm Owner's Identification Card...
To get it they'd need to:
provide a valid passport and any additional documents, as the Secretary may set forth by administrative rule ...provide the Secretary with a valid individual tax identification number issued by the federal Internal Revenue Service or social security number issued by the federal Social Security Administration ...a photo identity document, except that a non-photo identity document is acceptable if it includes both the person's full legal name and date of birth; ...the Secretary shall not accept any foreign document, other than a valid official passport, for purposes of this subparagraph...
From the foregoing, I gather at least three things: a) Illinois is nearly as corrupt a state as Chicago always has been, b) our Federal government is even more corrupt, giving out tax ID numbers (ITINs) knowing that many of the users are illegal aliens, and c) at least Mexican partisans haven't infiltrated Illinois to the extent that they've infiltrated California.
The last is because of the "foreign document" restriction; similar proposals in other states have allowed the use of Mexico's Matricula Consular card, which is nearly a guarantee that the bearer is an illegal alien.
Somewhat surprisingly, the AP report leads with the pro-American comments and buries the pro-illegal alien whine several paragraphs into their tale:
Bill Ketron has a warning for Illinois lawmakers: Be careful about letting illegal immigrants drive... The Tennessee state senator sponsored that state's 2004 law to create special driving "certificates" for illegal immigrants -- an idea being considered in Illinois... Now the program has been suspended, and Ketron is sponsoring legislation to kill it entirely. People used forged documents to obtain the certificates, he said, and some came from other states to fraudulently get certificates then go home and exchange them for regular licenses... "It's been a disaster," the Murfreesboro Republican said. "If they're proceeding with it (in Illinois), go into it with your eyes open."
Those on the pro-illegal immigration side include Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich (has said he'd sign it), Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago (the sponsor), the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and their deputy director Laimutis Nargelenas, and the Illinois Sheriffs Association. Secretary of State Jesse White is either on the fence or trying to play both sides of it. Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Greenville is quoted in opposition.
Los Angeles Times: give illegal aliens drivers licenses
The Los Angeles Times has an unsigned editorial called "Let illegal immigrants get licenses". They don't have an detailed list of reasons why we should do that, and they don't answer the large number of objections. Other than "just because", they think we should do it because they're here now, and they might as well have insurance.
As for the objection that "the state shouldn't be in the business of making life easier for people who aren't supposed to be here anyway", the LAT has a ready answer:
It's undeniable that illegal immigrants place a real burden on schools, hospitals and other institutions. But driver's licenses must be earned and paid for, and they benefit not just those who carry them but anyone who uses the state's roads.
The "earning" part is really tough: an hour or two at the DMV. The "paying" part, well, should the state really try to pick up a buck off those who are here illegally? Couldn't we make even more money if we just opened up the borders?
Needless to say, the LAT doesn't offer us the option of California attempting to reduce the numbers of illegal aliens here now. Nor, do they discuss the increased illegal immigration that will likely result from offering yet one more benefit. Nor do they discuss the possibility of terrorists getting the cards. In fact, one of the 9/11 terrorists got a California driver's license using a bypass code designed for use by illegal aliens (that loophole has since been closed).
And, of course, the LAT doesn't discuss the huge benefit this will give to the country of Mexico other than to mention that one document needed to get a license would be an "official ID from their country of origin".
The head of the LAT's editorial board is Andres Martinez, and I don't think it's unfair to question which country he's trying to benefit with this scheme.
Posted at 11:56 PM | Comments (1)
WFMOJALI: Gil Cedillo wants driver's licenses for illegal aliens, again and again
Welcome to the second edition of "Working For Mexico, Or Just Acts Like It?", which will feature legislators and others who - while they may not actually be receiving cash payments from Mexico - certainly act like it (previously: Kyrsten Sinema).It's also the ninth edition of this post's subject, California state senator Gil Cedillo ("One Bill Gil"), attempting to give CA driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
On the 15th of this month Cedillo introduced the latest version of SB60. It's currently in the Transportation and Housing committee, and the text of it is here. It implements the new federal Real ID requirements, with some additions:
Existing law requires the department to require every applicant for an original driver's license or identification card to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law and prohibits the department from issuing a license or card to a person who does not do so. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations, including procedures for verifying citizenship or legal residency of applicants for driver's licenses and identification cards, and to make a specified report, annually.Gray Davis signing one of the earlier bills played a large role in his recall. Arnie Schwarzenegger has since vetoed a bill or two, but considering his new "centrist" role and his link to the Mexican government it's not clear what he'd do now.
This bill would repeal those requirements on the date that the Secretary of State receives a notice from the Director of Motor Vehicles indicating that the department is in compliance with the implementation of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.
If you'd like to politely but firmly suggest that Cedillo is in the wrong country: dist22.casen.govoffice.com
Posted at 04:57 AM | Comments (11)
Eliot Spitzer considering driver's licenses for illegal aliens
New York governor Eliot Spitzer is considering giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Former governor Pataki required social security numbers to get a license, but the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License says he's about to repeal that:
"The 9/11 Commission pointed out that the 19 terrorists had at least 35 licenses," a board member of the coalition who lost his 23-year-old son in the World Trade Center attack, Peter Gadiel, said. "These licenses were the keys that enabled them to rent cars and open bank accounts, get credits cards, and buy flight lessons. It gave them everything they needed to plan, rehearse, and carry out their attacks."
However:
As the issue gains traction in Albany, Mr. Spitzer, who has moved other contentious issues such gay marriage off of the front burner, is showing signs of rethinking his position. "This is a complex issue, which we are reviewing carefully," Ms. Anderson, told the Albany Times Union yesterday. "Before moving forward with any proposal, we would do an exhaustive review all security-related maters."
Related:
Hats off to the New York Immigration Coalition
"If 250,000 New York Driver's Licenses Do Not Match Social Security Data, How Many Voters are Illegally Registered?"
"License Crackdown Stirs Sharp Debate at Hearing"
"N.Y. '9/11' check yanks 300k driver licenses"
Posted at 10:46 PM | Comments (2)
Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes driver's licenses for illegal aliens (again)
This was expected, but never fear as California state senator Gil Cedillo will continue to try to give U.S. benefits to Mexican citizens who are here illegally.
Posted at 12:56 PM | Comments (2)
Assembly passes Cedillo's drivers licenses for illegal aliens bill (SB 1162)
The California Assembly has passed Gil Cedillo's latest attempt to give driver's license to illegal aliens, SB 1162. This is just a week after the Democrat-controlled Assembly Appropriations Committe shelved his earlier attempt.
Needless to say, that minor setback didn't deter "One Bill Gil" from his life's work of giving U.S. benefits to Mexican citizens as he weaved, bobbed, and "gutted and amended" SB1162 to transform it into its current form.
In January, it was just about a minimum wage increase (link) and had nothing in there about driving. Now, compare that version to the latest, with vast tracts of struck-through text and italicized sections.
The Senate must pass it by Thursday, and it will probably be vetoed by Arnold even despite his weakened state. Nevertheless, a few phone calls might not hurt. Perhaps you could suggest that they remind themselves of which country they're supposed to represent.
And, Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark has a message for Republicans. They should deal with the "reality" that illegal immigrants are driving. And:
"These people are living in this country, they're working in this country, they're paying taxes... If you want to keep track of immigrants and you're scared of terrorism, vote for this bill."
Yes, indeed! Why, it's almost as if he's speaking directly to me, and his finely-honed logic has certainly convinced me that he's not just supporting this issue in order to gain more race-based political power.
And, Jordan Rau of the Los Angeles Times has some "facts" for us to consider:
The [DLs for IAs] and health insurance bills have been the projects of passion for two rank-and-file Democrats in the Legislature, and are strongly supported by two key party constituencies: liberals and Latinos.
Actually, both groups "strongly support[ing]" drivers licenses for illegal aliens is not entirely accurate. Even "One Bill Gil" admits that 70% of voters oppose what he keeps trying to do. Given that fact, "strong support" by those two groups is impossible. Rau also doesn't mention the curious way in which he changed a minimum wage bill into yet another "vehicle" for his "passion". Write: readers.rep *at* latimes.com
Posted at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
CA Democrats shelve driver's licenses for illegal aliens
The seventh year wasn't a charm for California state senator Gil Cedillo (D-MX), as the Democrat-controlled Assembly Appropriations Committee decided to shelve his latest attempt to give legal California driver's licenses to illegal aliens:Political insiders suggested the measure was perhaps too controversial for an election year. The bill is opposed by Republicans -- and a majority of voters -- who say licenses would reward people in violation of immigration law.Cedillo was "angered":
Republican Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election, has said he would veto the bill. His Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, supports the measure.
Appropriations committee chair Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, said she "strongly supports" the public-safety premise behind the bill but said a "rational, productive debate" on the Assembly floor was unlikely.
"It is absolutely unacceptable... My intention and my commitment is to move this bill to the floor. We have the right to have this bill debated, voted on and moved to the governor's desk."Combined with the recent 'Secure' video, this shows that despite the happy, amateurish public polls, the Dems' internal polls probably show just how much trouble they're in because of their constant support for illegal immigration.
UPDATE: As you might expect, "One Bill Gil" has a plan:
"There are a myriad of ways to [pass the bill]... We're going to find one of them to do it... [Cedillo said Democrats shouldn't] gauge our values based on the tenor of the debate... Our convictions transcend that... We have an obligation to develop good public policy. We have a duty to vote on that policy, and we have a duty to move that policy to the governor's desk."And:
He said he had commitments from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, to try to find a way to get the bill -- or another measure with similar provisions -- to Schwarzenegger's desk before lawmakers adjourn their 2006 on Aug. 31.A discussion of that follows.
Nunez said he had agreed to work with Cedillo to try to fashion a bill that could pass this year, but he said he opposes provisions of the current Cedillo legislation that would implement the federal Real ID Act, which he said would be costly for the state...
Posted at 11:12 AM | Comments (3)
Nell Soto plan rewards illegal alien drivers
From this:
The [California state] Senate already has voted 25 to 14 to create a special exemption in state law that would reduce the mandatory 30-day impoundment of cars driven by unlicensed drivers, so that offenders who have never had a valid license can get their cars back after 24 hours. Right now, when officers impound the cars of unlicensed drivers, the mandatory term is 30 days. A new law would keep the 30 days for drivers whose bad driving led to the forfeiture or suspension of their license -- may the courts add whatever punishment they so choose -- but create a loophole to give unlicensed illegal immigrants their cars back overnight. Expect the California Assembly to approve SB626 as early as today [Thu 8/10]
It doesn't look like it was passed, but that might change any moment.
Posted at 11:55 AM | Comments (2)
Don Perata: only small minority against driver's licenses for illegal aliens are "crackers"
[California] Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata spoke yesterday about opponents of giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens:
"Immigration is a red meat issue... You've got all these crackers down in Southern Cal – ah, where is it, San Diego, taking on the governor. Even the governor was shocked."
He's a Democrat, and "cracker" is a derogatory term for a white person, so - don't worry! - everything's going to be OK. Plus, he's issued a followup statement:
Next time I come to Sacramento in August I'll be sure to run the air conditioner. I want to clarify something I said earlier today. While I am concerned about the coarse and divisive tone used by a small minority in the driver's license debate, I believe that the vast majority on both sides are people of good will.
So, only a small minority of those opposed to giving state-sponsored ID to foreign citizens who are here illegally and thereby supporting massive illegal immigration and its associated massive corruption are "crackers". Thanks for clearing that up.
In previous news, Don Perata also supports foreign citizens marching in our streets, making a show of force and demanding rights to which they aren't entitled. And, he was involved in a rather curious situation with a donation from Regency Outdoor.
Posted at 06:38 AM | Comments (2)
California Democrat Gil Cedillo re-introduces driver's licenses for illegal aliens bill
As surely as Winter follows Fall, Gil Cedillo has introduced SB 1160, which would give driver's licenses to those who are in California illegally. SB1160 is identical to last year's SB60.
Schwarzenegger's press secretary says his opposition to this bill remains.
Most of the illegal aliens who'd get licenses under this bill are of the same race as Cedillo, who's a former member of the racial separatist group MEChA. In a long-forgotten interview, Cedillo said we should give DLs to IAs because "they were here first".
Despite all that, we're supposed to believe this bill is about "public safety".
In the press conference, "One Bill Gil" reorganized his bilingual talking points to highlight to the Spanish audience Arnold's recent motorcycle accident. Arnold might not have had the proper license endorsement. Somehow, Cedillo thinks that's supposed to make him sympathetic to the plight of those who snuck over our borders.
One of the interesting and somewhat unexpected subtexts of the article is that Cedillo might be an embarrassment to the Democratic Party, especially to those who are running for statewide office.
I have to disagree (wink, wink). I think Gil Cedillo is a perfectly fine Democrat, and one that the national Democratic Party should be proud of (wink, wink). In fact, I suggest making him the poster child for the national Dems. He truly is the heart and soul of the modern Democratic Party, and the more Americans who know about his quest the more they'll love that party.
Please do your part to help everyone in America get to know our fine California Democrats like Cedillo, Fabian Nunez, and Antonio Villaraigosa.
Posted at 04:29 AM | Comments (1)
Maryland to be sued over driver's licenses; AP not telling whole truth
Michael J. Feeney of the AP offers "Immigrants Denied Licenses to File Suit Against Md. MVA". It starts out with this bit designed to soften you up:
All she wants to do is drive to school, but Margaret Mengly Peredo Echalar says she can't get a driver's license, despite having provided proper identification to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
Awww. Except, it's not really just about one person's wish to get to school, now is it? It's also about all those other people who want licenses, and what they'll do with it: for instance, boarding airplanes. And, of course, driver's licenses are breeder documents: they're used to obtain other documentation. And, if, for instance, someone is an illegal alien, having a driver's license makes it seem like they're here legally.
Speaking of which, the AP "journalist" does not provide any details on the status of their poster child or that of the "13 immigrants" who will be filing a suit today against Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration, accusing them of "violating state laws and procedures." At no time are we told whether their legal status is involved in this issue
Two of the groups behind this appear to be Casa de Maryland (quotes from their spokeswoman Kim Propeack and their Executive Director Gustavo Torres are provided) and the Association for the Advancement and Equality of Women.
Please send an email to feedback *at* ap.org
Posted at 04:18 PM | Comments (4)
Arnold Schwarzenegger vetos driver's licenses for illegal aliens
Details here. Note that the title actually refers to them as "illegal" rather than implying it concerns "immigrants" as a whole.
Now, here's a shocker: Gil Cedillo says he'll keep trying with his campaign to get legal U.S. ID cards into the hands of Mexican citizens.
Posted at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
Wisconsin Assembly passes pro-American driver's license bill
The Wisconsin state Assembly has passed a Republican-sponsored bill requiring proof of citizenship in order to get a driver's license. And:
Applicants from other countries would have to show proof of legal permanent or conditional residency, a valid visa, an application for asylum, valid refugee status or an application for legal permanent residency. Their licenses would expire when their residency runs out.
In other words, no Cracker Jack IDs, like Mexico's Matricula Consular card.
The bill still has to pass their Senate, and their governor is Democrat Jim Doyle, a supporter of illegal immigration.
In other news, illegal immigration supporter Rep. Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee played the race card and Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison backed him up.
Posted at 02:04 AM | Comments (0)
CalInsider: Arnold should just say driver's licenses for illegal aliens is a bad idea
Rather than continuing to come up with excuses for not agreeing to Mexican-"American" legislator Gil Cedillo's constant attempts to give California ID cards to Mexican citizens who are here illegally, Daniel Weintraub has a alternate suggestion for Arnold:
...At this point the only honest reason to oppose giving licenses to illegal immigrants is because the state should not be giving its blessing to illegal behavior. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that position. Maybe the governor should try it on for size.
Posted at 03:02 AM | Comments (0)
Up to 140,000 of Mass.'s driver's licenses may be fraudulent
Up to 140,000 driver's licenses issued to Massachusetts residents have unverifiable social security numbers and "may be in the hands of thieves, illegal immigrants or even terrorists", the Boston Herald reports in "Registry probes 140,000 licenses: Identity thievery suspected".
There are 5.4 million people with licenses in Mass., and the 140,000 number does not include licenses issued after the year 2000. They've been instantaneously verifying SSNs since that date.
[Kim Hinden, the registrar of motor vehicles] said many of the discrepancies may have innocuous explanations, such as a name change due to marriage or a simple typographical or inputting error, but officials remain concerned about the possibility of identity theft or "licensed" terrorists.
Aw, pshaw. Gil Cedillo isn't worried about that happening in California, so everything's going to be OK.
Posted at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
Will illegal aliens get voting rights because of corrupt Republicans?
The Santa Barbara News-Press article "Latinos feel let down by governor" by Melinda Burns contains the following quote from "Carmen Herrera, an organizer for PUEBLO, a Santa Barbara-based group that advocates on behalf of the poor":
"The governor has always said he does not support immigrants, and he never misses an opportunity to remind us of that... I don't understand why. He, too, was an immigrant once. He has been through what many of us have been through. But he has forgotten... A license is not a luxury; it's a necessity and it's our right. We wash dishes and clean houses and take jobs many Americans won't take. And we pay taxes."
Obviously, the first sentence above is a lie. And, as far as I know Arnold did not sneak over the border nor did he get a visa with the intention of overstaying it.
And, as they say over and over, a driver's license is a privilege and not a right. In this organizer's world, anyone can sneak over our border and, as long as they get a job as a dishwasher, immediately obtain legal California ID.
And, after everyone in the world is given California ID, what's next? Obviously, voting rights. There's nothing in the organizer's "logic" that couldn't be equally applied to such rights. Think it won't happen? Consider this:
A UCLA study says California's constitution should be amended so the state's four and a-half million non-citizen adults can vote in local elections...
The author of the study - a former president of MALDEF - even compared not giving voting rights to apartheid. If the Santa Barbara News-Press is going to print pro-illegal immigration propaganda like this article designed to put driver's licenses in the hand of illegal aliens, do you think they - or all the other propaganda organs that print PIIPPs - won't consider voting rights just the next beachhead in the struggle?
We're starting down a very slippery slope here, and those corrupt Republicans that support massive illegal immigration are giving the U.S. a mighty push.
As for the article itself, if the muted photograph of the "organizer", the subtitle ("Local groups say driver's license veto is dismaying"), and the overall tone weren't enough, consider the first paragraph:
Local Latino groups expressed dismay but not surprise on Friday after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would veto a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain legal driver's licenses.
Normally, wouldn't you expect that to read "allowing illegal immigrants to obtain legal driver's licenses"? Do you think this was changed, and, if so, was it done manually or automatically?
Let's ask Joe Cole, president and publisher: jcole *at* newspress.com
Posted at 10:01 PM | Comments (2)
California driver's licenses for sale at Oakland DMV, no questions asked
There have been several posts about corrupt DMV employees here, including from Arizona, Michigan, Connecticut, and other states. But, this tale is different in a few ways:Veronica Rivera's scam was simple. She would park her luxury sedan at Oakland's Claremont Avenue DMV, whip out her cell phone, chat a bit in Tagalog, and the cash would flow. Her clients were illegal immigrants desperate for a driver's license. For a hefty price, she got them one, no questions asked. The operation apparently netted her and her partners inside the DMV several hundred thousand dollars. Then the money came to an end. She and her main partner, Frances Aliganga, were arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve felony charges, and now each face up to 55 years in prison.They didn't even have an exclusive? Now, here's where it gets a little... strange:
The early-August arrests made headlines around the Bay Area, but a closer look at recently unsealed documents reveals that flaws in the DMV's policies and computer system made it startlingly easy for Aliganga to issue real drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. The documents also raise serious questions about how many other California DMV employees also may have sold IDs to people here illegally. While investigating Rivera and Aliganga's operation, the FBI also uncovered two similar -- but apparently separate -- scams operating out of the same office. The presence of three fraudulent-license rings in one office, along with the ease with which they were able to operate undetected, suggests the statewide scope of such fraud could be vast...
[...details of the undercover investigation...]
Aliganga's attorney would not comment on the investigation, and Fifer's attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment. Rivera's attorney, Paul Delano Wolf of Oakland, would neither admit nor deny the evidence laid out in the FBI affidavits. But he defended Rivera's actions, portraying her as someone who was providing a service to undocumented Latino immigrants who are barred by law from obtaining drivers' licenses and California IDs. "This case is about their plight in this country," he said. When asked whether his client was really just exploiting the immigrants for financial gain, he said evidence in the case will show that "DMV employees" -- presumably Aliganga -- set the prices they charged for the licenses and IDs. He also said of his client: "I don't think the folks she helped believe they were being exploited."Maybe he could contact the Mexican government and get their help. And, of course, there's always Gil Cedillo, he might be interested in signing on to this worthy cause.
Posted at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
California Democrats support illegal immigration, lie about motivations, and pass driver's license bill
The California Assembly and Senate have passed Gil Cedillo's SB60, which would give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. That bill now goes to Arnold for either a veto or his signature. He has until mid-October to decide. Around 70% of Californians are opposed to that bill, so, if Arnold signs it don't expect him to win any other elections. He might even get recalled, although whether there's enough time to mount such a recall is unclear. However, there's a good chance he'll veto it.Most of the illegal aliens who would get licenses under this bill are from Mexico, and - surprise! - many of the legislators who voted for it are Mexican-"American". Despite that obvious linkage, all the quotes from legislators say they voted for it out of "public safety" grounds. And, of course, none of the reporters bothered to ask if their race or divided loyalties had anything to do with it.
So, bear in mind that this bill has absolutely nothing - nothing! - to do with racial power, or with legislators who are more or less Mexican politicians, or with getting Motor Voter forms into the hands of likely Democratic voters.
Beginning our tour of the loony bin, from "Assembly passes illegal immigrant driver license bill":
Referring to President Johnson's signature on the Voting Rights Act and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's rejection of school integration, [Sen. Gil Cedillo] said: "The governor has a choice. He can either be an LBJ or a George Wallace."In addition to being a Democrat, Cedillo is a former member of the racial separatist group MEChA, which wants to "liberate" Aztlan, currently known as the Southwestern U.S.
The AP article "Assembly OKs bill allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses" has some very choice quotes:
"It's vital that we all take responsibility for ensuring that all drivers are educated, tested and licensed," said Assemblyman Ron Calderon, D-Montebello. "Trained, tested and insured drivers enhance public safety for all of us."And, the L.A. Times has a few more in "Immigrant License Bill Is Sent to Governor":
But opponents said the bill amounted to rewarding illegal behavior by immigrants who burden the state's schools and hospitals.
"We're talking about people who broke into this country," said Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa.
"The reward is not the driver's license," replied Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont. "People come to this country for the jobs and a better opportunity."
Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, claimed the purpose of the bill was to register illegal immigrants to vote on forms available at Department of Motor Vehicle offices.
"One doesn't have to be a mental giant to figure out who they might vote for," he said. "I would think they would register Democratic."
But Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk, said the law bars the immigrants from voting.
Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, said the California economy needs illegal immigrants to fill many jobs.
"These people pay taxes, Social Security. We benefit by their presence here," he said.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, said they were offended by opponents using terms like illegal aliens.
"The hatred and bigotry in this room is palatable," said Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach. [whether she meant 'palpable' or whether she was saying that that coming from her own side was tasty is not known -- LW]
"Is it racist to want your borders to be secure?" La Suer asked. "Is it racist to want people to obey the law?"
In Santa Ana, Adolfo Sierra, president of Casa Guanajuato, a nonprofit that promotes culture of that central Mexican state, said he has mixed feelings about the proposal. "It's not fair. We should all be treated equally," he said. "I'm an immigrant and I feel this could increase prejudice against all of us."Even if we're going to have open borders, we really need to do something about people who sound like they're either hustling us or have 75 IQs. Perhaps we could pass out "Logical argumentation for dummies" at our entrance stations. Also, while I don't know anything about that Casa, I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever the L.A. Times was trying to say, someone is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Leo Bravo, of the Hispanic Center of Cache Valley in northern Utah, said the card is helping undocumented immigrants in his state.You have to wonder which country Cedillo, Nunez, and the rest represent. Are they really Americans? Until the DNC renounces their California branch, I'm going to assume that the above thoughts reflect those of the Democratic Party.
"We are better off than other states in the Union. People will drive even if they don't have licenses," said Bravo. "They don't have insurance. They are not protected and we are not protected. If we are worried about national security, it's better to know who we have driving on the roads."
..."This is a good bill because I believe it's the right thing to do because individuals are here and they're driving and that's the reality," said Assemblyman Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood)...
...Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) argued that undocumented workers, through taxes taken from their wages, "put in more than they're taking out..."
Posted at 07:15 PM | Comments (1)
Green Bay Press-Gazette supports illegal immigration
From the Green Bay Press-Gazette's "Editorial: Give non-English-speaking residents a lift":"Non-English-speaking drivers face linguistic roadblock," a headline in Tuesday's Green Bay Press-Gazette said.Yes, indeed there is. Why are there so many illegal aliens in Green Bay, Wisconsin? Wait, don't answer that, I know. Because there are corrupt employers there. And, those corrupt employers are no doubt a major part of the economy and the business community. And, the Press-Gazette is part of that business community too...
"Many continue to drive illegally because they need to earn a living and take care of their families," the accompanying story explained.
About a quarter of the non-English-speaking Hispanics living in the Green Bay area drive without licenses, most of them because of the language barrier and because they aren't legal residents and need to take care of their families...
There's something very wrong with this picture...
So, obviously, the thing we should do is help out those corrupt employers by giving their employees driver's licenses. Maybe the P-G could even translate this editorial into Spanish and release it to the Mexican newspapers, just to get the word out.
On the other hand, perhaps the P-G could learn from the Commisioner of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety:
...advocates argue that they want to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants so they will be safer drivers. This argument is completely without merit and is a transparent attempt to turn the illegal immigrant problem into a public safety issue... The Department of Public Safety will not facilitate illegal immigration...
Posted at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
Politically correct Oregon DMV fires employee trying to fight ID fraud
An Oregon DMV worker spotted what appeared to him to be suspicious activity relating to someone who was applying for an Oregon ID card. He did an ad hoc investigation, and put a mark on the applicant's record. The mark was later removed and she got her ID. And, he was fired."DMV worker fights firing":
Last month, Dallas DMV office manager LaVay Jeffries was accused of racial profiling and fired.
He says that he was doing his job, trying to keep someone from obtaining an Oregon driving permit under false pretenses.
DMV administrator Lorna Youngs said she regards Jeffries' actions as "outside the scope of his position," saying that it is not the responsibility of DMV employees to "conduct independent criminal investigations."
On May 4, 2005 Jeffries became suspicious of a woman, Jimenez Mesa, who was attempting to get an Oregon learner's driving permit.
She spoke little English and had a man with her, presumably to translate. According to Jeffries' testimony, that is not unusual, given the large Spanish-speaking population in Polk County.
Jeffries said that he only started to suspect Mesa when the woman claimed a Beaverton address and presented a Colombian passport and visa as ID...
Between the woman coming all the way from Beaverton to get a drivers license, the man's constant activity on his cell phone (He used it regularly throughout his interview with Mesa, Jeffries said), the brand-new van and the lack of employment by the driver, Jeffries' curiosity was aroused.
"I became suspicious, as this was beginning to look like someone possibly engaged in illegal activity, perhaps drugs or helping people get false Oregon ID," Jeffries wrote in an affidavit.
At this point, DMV Administrator Lorna Youngs says, Jeffries should have called his supervisor, William Halsne. Instead, Jeffries took note of the van's license plate and went inside to pull up its record...
This was not the first time Jeffries has called police when he suspected customers of criminal activity. On April 27, 1999, Fereja Seifu was arrested after Jeffries called police because he suspected Seifu of trying to obtain false Oregon ID cards for Abdulah Ahmed K. Alqubaisi, Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei and Mansour Almulla.
Seifu stood trial later that year, and he was convicted of the sale of documents for purposes of misrepresentation.
But the three Saudi nationals who'd been with him fled the country...
Posted at 01:10 PM | Comments (1)
Gil Cedillo's driver's licenses for illegal aliens passes. Urge Arnold to veto it!
Unfortunately, it appears that CA state Sen. Gil Cedillo's bill to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens has passed the Assembly, and will now go to Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the original bill, SB-60, and the voting breakdown is here.Note that that vote took place on Friday, Sep. 2 in the morning. Despite that, the Sep. 6 AP article "Lawmakers face crowded agendas in final week of session" says the vote is yet to occur. However, I believe that this latest vote means that this bill's next stop is the governor.
Please contact Arnold and urge him to veto this bill. His phone is 916-445-2841 and the FAX is 916-445-4633. You can send an email here.
In related news, see the Sep. 2 article "DMV said to need OK to act on fed driver-license rules":
The Legislature's top lawyer says the Department of Motor Vehicles must secure permission and funding from state lawmakers before implementing programs to comply with identification standards for driver licenses ordered by Congress.In other Cedillo news:
Legislative Counsel Diane Boyer-Vine's opinion could give more clout to Democrats pushing to provide a distinguishable "driving only" certificate to those applicants who cannot prove they are in the United States legally, said Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles...
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto any legislation passed before the Bush administration releases nationwide guidelines, such as requiring a birth certificate or passport, as part of the Real ID Act.
Cedillo acknowledged that the legislative counsel's opinions are routinely greeted with skepticism because she works for the majority Democrats.
"(Congress) told us to do this," he said. "The lawyer simply says (that) to do it legally and orderly, you must have legislation."
...Other Democrats on the committee were even more hostile to [eminent domain] reform. Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, questioned whether this was a real problem, and added, according to published reports, "Too often we legislate by hysteria." Well, the senator, who has used overheated rhetoric to promote driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and other fringe legislation, certainly knows what he's talking about there...
Posted at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
Illegal immigration-supporting governors complain about minor costs
The AP reports on the National Governors Association's summer conference in "Driver's license costs will skyrocket, governors warn". The three governors complaining are:
Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
Tom Vilsack of Iowa
Bill Richardson of New Mexico
Also see "Who is the Cheap Labor Lobby?" for the first two.
Those three were reportedly "fuming" and ready to complain to the DHS today.
Huckabee: "It's outrageous to pass this off on the states... You're essentially asking the front-line clerks at the DMV to become an INS agent and a law enforcement agent."
Vilsack: "This is going to drive the cost of driver’s licenses for ordinary folks through the roof... I think it’s going to drive people crazy."
Richardson says that giving illegal aliens driver's licenses has made roads safer, since licensed immigrants can get insured... adding that it also helps the state keep track of immigrants and integrate them into the community.
Follow the money, and, in the case of the last, follow the ethnic solidarity as well. Perhaps the wise folks of at least AR and IA could start a recall if their governors aren't going to do their part in trying to enforce our laws against illegal immigration.
Posted at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)
Fraud discovered at the Virginia DMV
A couple who worked at the Virginia DMV were recently arrested for giving out driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Details in "Virginia DMV official, wife held" or "Driver's license fraud alleged".
Note the quote from a U.S. Attorney:
"We must aggressively safeguard our identification systems. The integrity of state driver's licenses is critical to our commerce as well as our national security."
Gil Cedillo has apparently not got the word.
In past coverage, see "The 9/11 hijackers and driver's licenses" (they got several licenses from that state) and "Driver's license scandals raise national security worries".
Posted at 01:51 PM | Comments (1)
Gil Cedillo's SB 60 passes Transportation Committee
Gil Cedillo's latest attempt to get ID into the hands of Mexican citizens who are in California illegally has passed the Transportation Committee. It now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and if it passes there it will be voted on in the Assembly. Passage there would send it to Arnold, who will most likely veto it.Details in the biased Copley News report "Immigrant license bill under Republican fire" from James P. Sweeney. However, for the real story see this first-hand account:
Ric Oberlink referred to SB976, implemented in 1993, and observed that Sen. Alquist and others in the legislature at that time recognized that California had a problem with illegal aliens and we should not be facilitating it with driver licenses. At the end of his testimony, Chairperson [Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach)] interrupted to clarify that Mr. Oberlink was referring to Sen. Al Alquist, and not the current Senator Elaine Alquist. Oropoza explained that she didn’t want the current Senator to take the "blame" for the 1993 law...Someone really needs to ask Cedillo which country he thinks he represents.
Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas commented, "Superman was an illegal alien, and we made him a hero."
Dennis Mountjoy R-Monrovia asked Sen. Cedillo directly, "Is it your intent to issue driver’s licenses to those who are in this country illegally?" Cedillo never directly answered the question.
Yes
Oropeza, Chair
Chan
Karnette
Liu
Ridley-Thomas
Salinas
Torrico
No
Huff, VChair
Bogh
Horton
Mountjoy
Niello
Not Voting
Pavely
Posted at 01:44 PM | Comments (1)
Contra Costa Times: no driver's licenses for illegal aliens
The Contra Costa Times comes out against CA Sen. Gil Cedillo's latest attempt to get documents into the hands of people who shouldn't be here in the first place.From "Reject the license bill":
...AB 60 [They mean SB 60 --LW] is supposedly designed to answer that concern, but it still contains the fundamental flaw of giving government sanction to people who have entered the country illegally.
That flaw is the one that the majority of voters in this state seem to see, even if their elected representatives do not. [Au contraire: those legislators see the same flaw. It's just that some of them don't really represent the people of this state. -- LW]
[...Arnold will probably veto it...]
[...Cedillo says the bill's not about immigration]
That is nonsense, but we must give the senator credit for creativity. The view of Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, is much more to the point: The proposal's purpose is "to make a very strong statement that it is the policy of the state to ignore our nation's immigration laws."
We agree with that position and urge the California Assembly to reject SB 60.
Posted at 07:09 AM | Comments (1)
Gil Cedillo, driver's licenses for illegal aliens, Part 48310
The latest attempt from CA Sen. Gil Cedillo (Democrat - Los Angeles, Mexico) to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens has passed a Senate committee. It now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Note that this current bill is good ol' SB 60, which is distinct from SB 591. That latter bill is described here, and it gives illegal aliens - and only illegal aliens - a pass on the impound period when caught driving without a license.
The AP reports in "Senate panel passes bill to extend licenses to illegal immigrants".
I believe at this point in time it's important to ask yet again: what country does Gil Cedillo really represent? Can anyone say with absolute certainty that he represents the U.S.?
Posted at 07:21 PM | Comments (2)
Racial group opposes REAL ID Act
In "Advocates Assail Driver's License Rules" the AP transcribes for us the thoughts of the National Council of the Race about READ ID:"This is clearly an anti-immigrant bill that's going to have a very harmful impact on the Latino community and all immigrant communities," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research at the National Council of La Raza.Obviously, she's wrong. Several of the 9/11 hijackers were able to get driver's licenses, in some cases through fraud. See all the entries in this category for the details.
"It doesn't make us one iota safer. Not a single immigrant is going to be returned to his or her home country if they're denied a driver's license."
And, while she doesn't provide an answer and the "reporter" doesn't ask, not giving driver's licenses away like candy will serve as yet another disencentive for prospective illegal aliens. And, of course, the spokesperson from the National Council of the Race confuses "immigrant" with "illegal immigrant". And, the reporter doesn't mention this:
The group was initiated by a research project funded by the Ford Foundation. Today La Raza has more than 270 formal affiliates serving 40 states, and a broader nationwide network of more than 30,000 groups and individuals who reach at least 3.5 million Hispanics in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Notwithstanding this large base of support, more than two-thirds of La Raza's funding comes from corporations and foundations, and much of the rest stems from government sources. Between 2001 and 2003, the Ford Foundation alone gave La Raza some $9.83 million, including a single grant of $8.05 million.The article rambles on, giving the thoughts of yet another far-left group without identifying them as such. The article - of course - also confuses "immigrant" with "illegal immigrant."
Contact feedback *at* ap.org with your thoughts.
Posted at 06:16 PM | Comments (2)
"Backdoor license plan"
The L.A. Daily News reports on Gil Cedillo's latest attempts:SACRAMENTO -- Stymied in his efforts to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has found a backdoor way around the ban with a proposal that would exempt undocumented motorists from vehicle-impound laws...Note the words the Daily News uses; I think they might be slightly getting it. Note also the anchor babies reference by One Bill Gil.
Cedillo said law enforcement resources should be dedicated to going after serious driving offenses such as drunk driving, not licensing violations by undocumented immigrants.
"That's what the money should be spent for, not towing people's cars who are taking their citizen kids to school, church or the supermarket," Cedillo said in an interview. "It's just a bad policy and it doesn't make sense."
Unlike his measure that would make illegal immigrants eligible for licenses, which was repealed under pressure from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cedillo has pushed for his new bill quietly...
My report on this is here.
Posted at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
The SJ Mercury's "special" editorial board
The San Jose Merc has an editorial entitled "Special licenses better than nothing" which supports giving illegal aliens a special version of a California driver's license. That would be, unfortunately, permissible under the Real ID Act.
In addition to generally opposing the Real ID Act, they also complain that the Act would "force California to spend millions of dollars in the next three years creating and storing digital images without being reimbursed for the costs." Hmmm... what are we missing here? Oh yeah, that $10 billion or so California loses as a result of being Mexico's lifeboat. Next to that, the database is peanuts.
They also briefly reference cars being impounded, without informing their readers (at least of the editorial) of Gil Cedillo's latest attempt to subvert our immigration laws.
Posted at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
Yet another attempt by Gil Cedillo to keep illegal aliens driving
Gil Cedillo is back with a new bill. However, this isn't trying to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
Rather, it would waive the impound period for those who are here illegally and who are caught driving without a licenses. At the very least you have to applaud Cedillo for his persistence and creativity.
From S.B. 591's text:
...This bill would require a city or county to exempt a person from the impound period where the offense involves a person who has never been issued a driver's license due to an inability to meet the requirement that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law...
Eric Leonard on KFI 640 AM Los Angeles says that the LAPD might come out with an official stance on this bill. To keep up with the latest action on this bill, here's its main page.
If you live in California, please contact your representatives and stress your opposition: Senate, Assembly.
Previous coverage of Cedillo's innumerable attempts to circumvent our immigration laws is in this category and also in, for just one example, "Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor".
Posted at 07:53 PM | Comments (2)
"Behind the wheel: States should limit licenses to legal residents"
From a SDUT editorial:
...Utah's action [to give "driving privilege cards" to illegal aliens rather than real driver's licenses] points to a national wave of public concern about issuing to illegal immigrants a license to do far more than drive. It's a wave, too, that will become a veritable tsunami if federal legislation that just passed the House of Representatives makes it, as it should, through the Senate. In that event, states may continue to issue driver licenses to illegal immigrants, but driver licenses from those states will not be accepted for federal identification purposes – to board a plane, for example, or enter a federal building.[...Why do this?] Start with the fact that neither the nation nor the states should make travel easy for illegal immigrants bent on doing harm here. Driver licenses have become de facto identification cards, "breeder documents" that can facilitate further illegal acts, from terrorism to lesser crimes, by illegal immigrants. Determining the legal status of license applicants adds another check against their abuse.
And move on to the overweening fact that making illegal immigrants legal drivers rewards their illegality, encourages other illegal immigrants and further blurs the already too-fuzzy line between legal and illegal residents. Limiting driver licenses to legal residents is only one clarifying dot along that line, but one Congress and the states should endorse...
Posted at 10:49 PM | Comments (1)
Field Poll: 62% of Californians oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens
SACRAMENTO - By a wide margin, Californians oppose granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, according to a poll released Friday.A Field Poll showed that 62 percent of state residents oppose granting the licenses, while 35 percent favor the idea. The poll also found that 49 percent support issuing a different kind of license to illegal immigrants, with 48 percent opposed.
The survey found a large ethnic divide on the question. Three out of four white, non-Hispanics said they are opposed to issuing regular driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, while Hispanics favor the idea by a two-to-one margin. Of all other races, 77 percent are opposed.
Almost nine out of 10 Republicans - 86 percent_ reject the idea. Fifty-six percent of Democrats also are opposed...
FAIR comments in "Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Aliens: Wrong, Dangerous and A Political Loser".
Posted at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
Hats off to the New York Immigration Coalition
The New York DMV is trying to prevent illegal aliens from getting New York driver's licenses. If you've been reading the New York Times or the New York Daily News or press releases from various organizations, you might have been confused into thinking that they're trying to prevent all immigrants from getting licenses, but that's not true.
For instance, the far-left New York Immigration Coalition has a page discussing this issue. Only one sentence on that page makes an oblique reference to this being an issue of legal vs. illegal: The law does NOT say that immigration status is a requirement for drivers' licenses. Everywhere else on that page it just uses some variant of "immigrant" to describe those affected by the DMV's new rule.
One of the contact persons listed at that page is Amy Sugimori of the National Employment Law Project. Another group attempting to keep driver's licenses in the hands of illegal aliens is the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, or PRLDEF. (Puerto Ricans, as U.S. citizens, shouldn't have any problem getting a New York driver's license.) Both the NELP and the PRLDEF are funded in part by the Ford Foundation; PRLDEF has received $2 million from Ford over the years. That foundation is also the major funder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF: $25 million over the years. While MALDEF has not taken part in the New York case, it opposed anti-illegal-immigration laws in California and Arizona.
All of the foregoing is to be expected from far-left, Ford Foundation-funded organizations. However, their attempts to blur the line between legal and illegal immigration seems to have infected other sources that should know better.
The NYIC co-sponsored a November 2, 2004 exit poll, the results of which were released just last week (PDF file). Bearing in mind that all of the respondents should have been either native-born or naturalized citizens, one of the poll questions asked:
Support Driver's Licenses for Non-citizen Residents of New York State (Yes, No, Don't Know)
At the best that question is meaningless and at the worst it's intentionally misleading. To repeat, no one is trying to prevent all non-citizen residents from getting driver's licenses, just illegal aliens.
The principal investigator of the poll was Lorraine C. Minnite, an Assistant Professor at Barnard College:
"Funding and support provided by the New York Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, Barnard College, the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and The New York Immigration Coalition"
Please send an email to her and the dean of Barnard College suggesting that they avoid such sloppy advocacy scholarship in the future: lcm25 *at* columbia.edu, eboylan *at* barnard.edu
The poll was the subject of a 2/20/05 article in the NY Daily News by Albor Ruiz: "Pol: Immigrants elect to vote". He repeats the poll's misleading question without attempting to put it into its proper context. Emails: editor *at* nydailynews.com, aruiz *at* edit.nydailynews.com
The New York Times' coverage of this issue has been similar, although there may or may not be such a direct link between the NYIC or other organizations and the NYT's reporters. Most of the NYT's coverage comes from Nina Bernstein. For the most part her coverage reads like an NYIC press release, slightly edited for accuracy. While Bernstein does occasionally use the word "illegal", she more frequently uses misleading euphemisms: "immigrants who cannot prove that they are here legally", "newcomers", or just plain "immigrants." She also used as a quote source someone who's an immigration lawyer and a member of the AILA without revealing that affiliation. Her 02/18/05 piece "License Denials for Immigrants Are Blocked" took nine paragraphs to disclose that she was talking about illegal immigrants. Her latest piece on this issue is "Albany Tries to Restore Limits on Licenses for Immigrants", which is only slightly less misleading than her previous advocacy journalism pieces.
Please contact public *at* nytimes.com and suggest they stop trying to mislead their readers.
Posted at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
"'Save Our License' may face state probe"
Emphasis on the "may." From the DailyNews:
The Secretary of State's Political Reform Division has ordered Save Our License, a group opposed to driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, to refile all its committee documents and submit all its campaign finance data.
Meanwhile, a group representing Latino and church groups across the nation this week filed a formal complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, saying Save Our License willfully violated campaign finance laws...
...Since Save Our License opposes a specific subject, its original filing as a general purpose committee is not valid, said Harvey Tsuboi, a senior analyst with the Secretary of State's Political Reform Division.
"I asked them to amend their committee designation from general purpose to primarily formed (ballot measure) committee," Tsuboi said. "They need to turn in their campaign finance reports and refile their original statement of organization."
...On Monday, the Greenlining Institute, a Democratic activist organization based in Berkeley, filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, demanding that Save Our License receive the maximum fine from the state -- more than $10,000. The coalition of minority churches and business associations also urged the state to throw out all signatures collected by the group --about 400,000 to date, according to Save Our License -- because financial documents have not been filed...
As per custom, when hearing for the first time about an "activist group" or a "human rights" group, google their name plus "ford foundation". That results in 70 hits. There might be direct links in that list, or they might all be directories. But, they're in the same sphere.
In their words:
The Greenlining Institute works to improve the quality of life for low-income and minority communities. The institute emerged form the Greenlining Coalition, perhaps the oldest coalition of African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Latino community leaders organized around a common purpose. With the formal founding of the Institute in 1993, Greenlining set out to create an antidote to redlining, the illegal yet common practice of denying, limiting, or overcharging for financial services and products to low-income and minority communities.
At least they've covered all - or, well, OK, most all - bases. As their pages and reports make clear, it's all about the "minorities."
From Paul Craig Roberts:
... Recently California Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan, seeking immigrant votes, addressed the Greenlining Institute, a "nonprofit" organization of Asians, Latinos and blacks that lobbies (illegally?) for minority benefits.
The Jan. 14 San Francisco Chronicle described Mr. Riordan's audience as minority businessmen, but the newspaper reported that the audience's concerns were whether Mr. Riordan would support their goals for more income taxes on the rich and the repeal of Proposition 13, the landmark measure that limited California property taxes.
Few Americans know it, but many immigrant businesses originate in preferential financing or loan set-asides from the Small Business Administration. What many see as immigrant success is really the fruits of taxpayers' money...
Bob Gnaizda, their general counsel, praises Vicente Fox and his plans in 3/18/01's "Davis to Meet Mexican Leader Twice a Year
Fox arrives to inaugurate new cross-border Net link". This thread and this details their attempts to derail Ward Connerly's Prop. 54. One of their cohorts in that effort was MALDEF. They joined with MALDEF, LULAC, Cruz Bustamante, Marco Firebaugh, and other worthy groups in opposition to a similar measure.
Their first and latest 990's at guidestar.org don't show anything remarkable, but the names of their board might be of interest for further googling.
They're involved in some way with a $1.3 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
They tried to pass a law relating to campaign finance.
And, last but not least, consider their banking-related activities.
In 2002 they joined with the Mexican American Political Association to protest in front WestAmerica bank in Fresno. That might have been before Nativo Lopez became the president of MAPA. That bank wanted to merge with a smaller bank. Read their sleazy press release here.
The merger was approved:
...In an otherwise routine-looking 16-page letter approving Westamerica Bank's purchase of Kerman State Bank near Fresno, the Fed dedicated three sentences and a footnote to a nasty spat between community activists and David Payne, CEO of the San Rafael bank, which has eight East Bay branches and six in Solano County. Westamerica threatened a libel suit after the group complained publicly about Payne receiving compensation valued at $69 million in 2000, the bank's limited contributions to low-income areas and individuals, and the bank's relatively low Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating. The purchase moves Westamerica from the No. 6 spot in the Fresno market to being the fourth largest bank in the area. Footnote: In January, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke at The Greenlining Institute's Economic Development Summit in Oakland and encouraged attendees to send the Fed ideas on how to promote development in underserved communities.
And, from 1998's "Minority groups oppose `Godzilla' bank merger":
NationsBank Corp. Chief Executive Hugh McColl and BankAmerica Corp. Chief Executive Officer David Coulter defended their planned $60 billion merger to opponents led by The Greenlining Institute, a San Francisco group that promotes economic development in low-income and minority communities...
Perhaps in anticipation of this sort of criticism, NationsBank and BankAmerica in May unveiled a $350 billion, 10-year community development lending program designed to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 federal law that directs banks to lend in all the communities where they collect deposits...
And, from 1996's "Bank watchdog pushes bounds of fair play":
... The Greenlining Institute, a San Francisco-based public advocacy group, has detected villainous behavior on the part of Sumitomo Bank. This week, Greenlining filed a complaint with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in San Francisco accusing Sumitomo's California subsidiary of discriminatory lending and hiring practices. The big losers, the complaint said, are African Americans and Latinos. The big winners, Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans...
Greenlining presented its allegations in its characteristic fashion, ambush-style. The nonprofit fired off copies of its complaint to the media, but neglected to deliver a copy to the bank. Thus, Sumitomo officials were in no position to issue a rebuttal and could only express lame surprise.
And Greenlining highlighted certain statistics that, while incriminating, were also misleading. It noted, for example, that of the 153 housing loans made by Sumitomo California in 1995, only one went to a black applicant. It neglected to point out that only five blacks applied for housing loans, and two of those applications were withdrawn.
Greenlining also blasted Sumitomo for failing to live up to a commitment it made three years ago -- to make $500 million in low-income and community-development loans to poor communities in the state. While those funds have not been dispersed, it's worth mentioning that the bank has another seven years to make good on its pledge.
In banking circles, the Greenlining Institute is sometimes referred to as the Greenmailing Institute -- based on the way it influences banks to use their money. Greenlining is able to leverage the bad publicity it creates for banks to further its goal; namely, increasing lending to minorities and low-income families, as outlined by the Community Reinvestment Act...
Posted at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
NYT editorial: "On Guard, America"
[also posted here]
The editorial "On Guard, America" says: "Eleven states grant [driver's licenses to illegal immigrants] as a way to encourage highway safety and accident insurance coverage."
That statement is disingenuous at best.
Consider, for instance, California. State Sen. Gil Cedillo has sponsored numerous bills to give DLs to illegal aliens. His supposed reason, repeated over and over, is for "public safety."
However, when you look at his other remarks you begin to get any idea what his real agenda is: "Actors, writers and musicians want you to pay all the costs for their cheap labor".
That link describes the recent Variety ad from Mike Farrell and others supporting DLs for illegal nannies.
Whether it's so their domestic help can drive across town to their jobs, or so illegal aliens can have ready access to Motor Voter forms, or because they've simply been paid off, much of the support for DLs for illegal aliens has nothing whatsoever to do with "public safety." Anyone who says that it's about "public safety" loses whatever credibility they might have once had.
Posted at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
Driver's licenses for illegal aliens flops in Redding
From Lawmaker wants to ease driver's license rules:
Hollywood stars’ powers of persuasion are apparently negligible in the north state when it comes to the issue of providing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants...
[...Gil Cedillo and his Let Our Nannies Drive bill...]
But the glitz and glamour has had little effect on shoppers interviewed Friday in front of two Redding stores...
Cedillo’s bill, meanwhile, faces opposition from Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, and Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, their aides said Friday.
Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, whose north coast district includes Trinity County, voted for the driver’s license bill last year. Her spokesman could not be reached Friday...
Out of 92 people who were asked about Gil's bill, 83 opposed it. Responses included:
"It’s not their (celebrities’) jobs that are being taken..."
"How could somebody who’s not even supposed to be here get all these things?"
"We’ve got to tighten the screws on all immigration and evaluate people’s backgrounds... I don’t think we should give them carte blanche."
"We might have not had 9/11" if some of the terrorists hadn’t obtained driver’s licenses...
Posted at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
NC: "We Must Stop Issuing Driver's Licenses to Illegal Aliens"
From Rep. Virginia Foxx [R-NC]:
We have a serious problem here in North Carolina – a problem that can have serious ramifications on our national security.
According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, we live in one of 10 states that permits anyone to receive state issued driver’s licenses or identification cards without providing proof of their legal status...
...This is precisely one of the reasons why I joined House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) last week as an original co-sponsor of H.R. 418, also known as the “Real I.D. Act.” This legislation would require that federal agencies only accept driver’s licenses and state issued identification cards from states that prove the legal status of applicants. The bill will also require states to review the legality of existing license holders upon renewal or replacement.
Don’t get me wrong. I am one of the strongest advocates of state rights that you will find. However, if a state acts irresponsibly and places the national security of the rest of the country at risk, then Congress must get involved...
Posted at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)
"[NC] DMV memo OKs licenses for illegals"
From this:
North Carolina examiners should not aggressively investigate illegal immigrants who might be seeking fraudulent driver's licenses, a top state executive suggested in a memo nearly two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In fact, Wayne Hurder, who supervises the state's driver-license section for the state Division of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh, sent an e-mail message in August 2003 criticizing some of his DMV officials for being too aggressive with immigrants who presented identification and other documents that examiners thought suspicious.
"As I stated for the last nine years, the fact that a person is in the United States without the permission of the Department of Homeland Security (formerly INS) is irrelevant as far as North Carolina DMV is concerned," Hurder said in the message to six other DMV officials, including several regional chief examiners.
"If local law enforcement wants to make an issue of their legal status, that obviously is their right and responsibility depending on the statutes under which they operate," Hurder said. "But let me make it clear -- for the umpteenth time -- North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 20 does not involve itself with a person's legal status in determining their eligibility to apply for a license."
North Carolina DMV Commissioner George Tatum, Hurder's boss, disavowed Hurder's memo in a Tuesday interview, saying that it doesn't represent the division's current outlook on identity fraud by unlawful immigrants.
"It is not representative of my vision or a statement I would make for what we should do here," Tatum said...
Posted at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)
Head of the CT DMV steps down
HARTFORD (AP) — Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Gary DeFilippo, whose tenure was marked by a scandal involving fraudulent driver’s licenses and a troubled vehicle emissions testing program, will step down on Feb. 1...
He wants to spend more time with his family.
Previous coverage of DMV scandals in CT and other states starts here.
Posted at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
"Driver's license scandals raise national security worries"
The AP offers a roundup of the recent driver's licenses scandals:
Connecticut had developed a reputation from as far away as Florida as a place where people could buy fraudulent driver's licenses for as much as $3,500 without having to produce any identification. DMV workers also took payoffs for stealing the identities of legitimate license holders, police say.
Investigators suspect hundreds of licenses were fraudulently issued, sparking worries about illegal immigration, identity theft and even threats to national security...
...Similar scams have occurred around the country:
_ In New Jersey, nine state motor vehicle employees pleaded guilty to a scheme that involved payoffs for bogus licenses.
_ In Illinois, a federal investigation into the trading of bribes for driver's licenses led to dozens of convictions and the indictment of former Gov. George Ryan on racketeering and other charges.
_ In Virginia, more than 200 people are losing their licenses because of suspected fraud by a former Department of Motor Vehicles worker who allegedly sold licenses for as much as $2,500 each...
...The fraud alarms officials amid fears of identity theft and terrorism. Fake ID cards made it possible for the Sept. 11 terrorists to board commercial flights...
In addition to those four states, there was also a scandal in Michigan.
Posted at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
"Feds say thousands may have lied to get Michigan licenses"
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of people may have exploited a recently closed loophole in Michigan regulations to fraudulently obtain state driver's licenses, a federal investigator says.
Federal agents are investigating what they say are criminal rings that helped people get licenses without proof of residency in Michigan.
Last month, secretary of state offices began requiring adults applying for their first driver's license or personal identification card to provide documentation showing they live in the state...
In July, the Portuguese language Brazilian Voice newspaper in Newark, N.J., ran an ad offering Michigan driver's licenses for $1,000, and similar ads appeared in other foreign-language publications...
There was also a Brazilian connection to fraudulently obtained Connectictt licenses.
Posted at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
"Taking license with hijacker ID rumor"
Lisa Friedman from the Long Beach Press-Telegram's National Bureau (they have a National Bureau?) takes issue with the statement that the 9/11 hijackers had a combined total of 63 driver's licenses. She repeatedly refers to it as false, an urban legend, etc. etc. However, she provides no contrary proof that they did not have those licenses.
It closes with this humorous bit from the National Council of The Race:
...Opponents of the national driver's license standard say they are angry at the ease with which the false statistic gained currency.
"It's so frustrating and so maddening to listen to what they've been getting away with saying," said Michelle Waslin, an immigration policy expert with the National Council of La Raza.
Posted at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
It's like 187, but with quills
From this:
The Save Our License Committee joined with Assemblyman Mark Wyland today in announcing a new initiative designed to prevent California State and local governments from granting benefits to illegal aliens.
[...list of provisions designed to prevent "tampering" by anti-American politicians and foreign governments deleted...]
..."We are very confident of our success with this initiative," noted [Mike Spence, with the Save Our License Committee]. "We start with a strong and enthusiastic base of supporters. We have financial commitments to help with the paid signature gatherers. And the legislature is keeping the issue in front of everyone with their efforts to pass a new driver’s license bill."
The Save Our License initiative, which was filed with the Attorney General today, will amend California’s Constitution. For it to qualify for the ballot, proponents must collect approximately 600,000 valid signatures.
Under California law, the Attorney General has fifteen days to review the language and prepare an official Title and Summary. If the Attorney General determines that the initiative may have a fiscal impact, he must forward it for a fiscal review before issuing the Title and Summary.
Once complete, the Attorney General will transmit it the Secretary of State who will record is and start the clock on the signature gathering. Proponents will then have 150 days to gather the necessary signatures.
Posted at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
Thousands of CT driver's licenses to illegal aliens?
TEAM 8 INVESTIGATES
News Channel 8 Investigation results in massive DMV probe:
_ The Department of Motor Vehicles has launched a massive investigation after a Team 8 Investigation uncovered allegations Connecticut DMV employees may be illegally selling Driver's licenses...
A Team 8 Investigation, however, has found evidence the Connecticut Driver's license system is anything but secure. In fact just the opposite, that Connecticut has a reputation for being the place to go to illegally buy a license...
[A Florida businessman] says he made the discovery [about the CT licenses] after almost hiring several Brazilians. He told them they needed Green Cards and valid Driver's Licenses.
Two weeks later, they returned with Driver's licenses from Connecticut. When pressed, Pardo says the men told him...
"Everyone who comes to this country from South America goes to Connecticut to obtain a driver's license," says Pardo. "They knew exactly who to see."
"What was the reaction of law enforcement when that letter was received," asks [Team 8 Investigative Reporter] Alan Cohn.
"Shock," says unnamed DMV investigator.
This DMV investigator, who doesn't want to be identified, is talking to us out of frustration. He claims the DMV has been slow in taking action against employees suspected of selling licenses.
"It's an extremely serious issue and thus far the motor vehicle department has failed to address the issue," says the DMV inspector.
In contrast to the last post, the leftmost newscaster on the banner is right on the money.
Posted at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
"The two faces of Arnold - a Mexican's viewpoint"
Mexican newspaper Reforma published an editorial back on October 3 calling our own Arnold Schwarzenegger a hypocrite for opposing driver's licenses for illegal aliens.
The editorial is basically only of use to see what the elites of Mexico think. Other than that it's basically just a good opportunity to laugh out loud.
Rather than excerpt the editorial, here's the footnote:
The author [of the editorial] omitted the concluding two sentences of this paragraph in Schwarzenegger's speech, an apparent convenience in support of his contention that Schwarzenegger is a hypocrite. For proper context, the following is the paragraph in full: "To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything." (BBC News, September 1, 2004) [emphasis added -- LW]
MexiData received a few letters about the editorial, all of which pointed out that Arnold was a legal and not an illegal immigrant.
Posted at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)
"Governor right to veto driver's license bill"
From an editorial by Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy printed in the L.A. Times:
Arnold Schwarzenegger did the right thing when he immigrated to America from Austria as a young man — he came here legally. As governor, he did the right thing [recently] when he vetoed the bill that would have given California driver's licenses to immigrants who, unlike the governor, entered this country illegally.
The backers of this legislation say they are concerned only about traffic safety and auto insurance. That's simply not true, and they know it. Their hidden agenda is to blur the distinction between legal immigrants — like Gov. Schwarzenegger and millions of other immigrants who have played by the rules when they came to America — and illegal immigrants, who have broken our laws...
Posted at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
"Advocates: Illegal immigrant drivers need documentation"
From the Palm Springs Desert Sun's License veto questioned:
Sonia Dinorah Davila and Juana Raya are having a hard time understanding why Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger vetoed a bill that would have made undocumented immigrants in the state eligible for driver’s licenses.
"It’s not fair," said Davila, a legal assistant at Coachella Valley Immigration Service and Assistance Inc. in Palm Springs...
Say what now? Their reporter went to a commercial company that makes its money off immigration matters and got some quotes (all apparently spoken in Spanish) from the workers and clientele? What would you expect them to say, that Arnold was right? If you want to read - yet again - the brain-dead, disingenuous talking points in favor of DLs for IAs, have at it.
Posted at 11:16 AM | Comments (1)
Reaction to Arnold's veto from south of the border
From this:
A top foreign relations official on Thursday lambasted California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of legislation that would have allowed undocumented migrants to obtain a driver's licenses in the state...
Juan Bosco Martí, general director for North American affairs with the Foreign Relations Secretariat (SRE) said in a press conference the Mexican government is very concerned by the action.
Bosco said the inability of undocumented workers to obtain a driver's license hurts all migrants in California, not just Mexicans.
"The Mexican government will continue to defend the interests of the Mexican community residing in California within the realm of the laws of the United States and California," he said...
Bosco said the Mexican government would continue to promote the use of consulate-issued I.D. cards to help give migrants in the United States a means of identification that they can use to obtain U.S. drivers' licenses, bank accounts and other services.
The SRE says the cards are accepted as valid identification in 33 U.S. states, 1,180 police departments and 178 banks, and that it has issued 2.2 million of them since March 2002.
See also "California legislators ask Mexican Senate to intervene [in driver's licenses for illegal aliens]"
For more on the Matricula Consular cards, see "Their money or your safety".
Posted at 12:01 PM | Comments (2)
"Driver's license bill belongs in the dumper."
From the Long Beach Press-Telegram's "Another proper veto":
There will be no driver's licenses for illegal immigrants anytime soon. And that is plenty soon enough...
The real debate isn't about driving, it's about an attempt to "legalize," as much as possible, the immigration status of people who are here illegally. A driver's license is the primary tool of identification in California, and it can be used for many purposes other than driving...
The San Jose Mercury News weighs in with Driver's license muddle. They also support differentiated driver's licenses, rather than making the correct choice of no licenses at all.
Posted at 11:53 AM | Comments (1)
26 Arizona DMV workers caught in driver's license scam
From this:
Federal and state agents Thursday charged 26 state workers with illegally issuing driver's licenses to human traffickers, undocumented immigrants and drug dealers, calling the actions a threat to national security.
Immediately, Gov. Janet Napolitano detailed a plan to prevent further fraud at the Motor Vehicle Division, but she said the measures likely will make getting a driver's license more complicated...
"All the undercovers [who conducted the sting] represented themselves as drug dealers or human traffickers, so the DMV employees' participation was to further criminal activity," Gray said.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said, "They've sold national security, in what I consider to be a very traitorous fashion, a despicable fashion, for 30 pieces of silver."
As an aside, Gov. Janet Napolitano - along with others - opposes Prop. 200, that would seek to prevent illegal aliens from voting and obtaining non-federally-mandated services.
This post discusses how the 9/11 hijackers obtained driver's licenses.
Posted at 11:42 AM | Comments (1)
Arnold might need to find a new excuse
In "Maybe It's Time for Cedillo to Let Arnold Take the Wheel", the L.A. Times suggests that Gil "One Bill Gil" Cedillo stops trying to get the current version of his driver's licenses for illegal aliens bill passed. Instead, he should allow the mark Arnold wants that would distinguish the bearer as an illegal alien.
Being the L.A. Times, it includes this bit: "Give Schwarzenegger credit: He's not one of these demagogic nativists who considers a driver's license a "benefit" — a "reward" for border-sneaking — and therefore should be denied to anybody here illegally." Let's ignore that; it is the L.A. Times after all.
What's worrisome is this bit:
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) seems to see the larger picture.
"The way I look at it," he says, "is you can keep pushing the issue, but you've got to find common ground with the governor. Or it's just going be an exercise in civics.
"We're going to have to come back and have a serious discussion with him about 'the mark,' if that's the only way he's going to sign a bill. It's a tough pill for me to swallow, but at the end of the day, the need for the driver's license outweighs it.
"I look at it as a scarlet letter, to be honest with you. But we need for people to get to and from work."
Could those who push these bills live with the marks, and therefore call Arnold's bluff? Let's hope not.
Thankfully, SaveOurLicense might make all this moot by forbidding illegal aliens from ever getting a license in California. I see the bigger picture too, and it's closely related to our supposedly American representatives asking the Mexican Senate for help with this bill.
UPDATE: The DailyNews article "Nunez relents on licenses" seems to have much the same information as that above, with the expected addition that Nunez would prefer a mark that's visible only to "authorities."
Posted at 02:43 PM | Comments (1)
Arnold vetoes driver's licenses for illegal aliens bill
As expected: "Schwarzenegger vetoes driver's licenses for illegal immigrants." The text of his nice letter vetoing the bill is here.
Also as expected, State Senator Gil "One Bill Gil" Cedillo, perennial sponsor of these bills, says he will keep on trying.
Although there's been much coverage of Cedillo here, the most telling bit is his barely-noticed rationale for giving DLs to IAs: "they were here first." I attempted to parse that phrase here. That was, of course, soon replaced by him constantly repeating "it's for public safety, it's for public safety."
See also the attempts by some of his putatively American co-workers to seek help with this bill from the Mexican senate.
As for the report linked to above, note that this is written by Jim Wasserman of the AP. There seem to be two forms of this report: a short version and a long version. The long version is linked to above and here. The short version is here.
From the long version, we learn two surprising facts I had not heard of before.
1. California's "neighbors" include "Utah, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii." I guess I'm just old-fashioned, thinking as I do that "neighbor" implies contiguousness or not being separated by thousands of miles of water. (Perhaps the AP reporter is thinking forward to that bridge they're building or something.)
2. "Lawmakers passed the ban [on DLs for IAs] in 1993 as anti-immigrant sentiment swept the state, culminating in 1994's passage of Proposition 187, which aimed to deny public services to illegal immigrants."
#1 I don't mind so much. However, #2 is inaccurate and internally inconsistent. Send your emails to: info@ap.org
Posted at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)
"The Terminator vows to terminate licenses for immigrants"
This article in Kansas City's Dos Mundos offers a standard story on Gil Cedillo's "public safety" bill to give driver's licenses for "immigrants" (actually, illegal aliens).
What's interesting is the photo from an anti-Arnold protest. It features two masked protesters wearing... Che Guevara T-Shirts. Keep those protests coming!
Posted at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
"California legislators ask Mexican Senate to intervene [in driver's licenses for illegal aliens]"
This is a MexiData translation of a Mexican newspaper story from 9/7/04. I couldn't find this mentioned anywhere else:Mexico City -- Members of the Assembly of California have asked the Mexican Senate (sic) to beseech Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the bill so that almost 2 million undocumented Mexicans can obtain driver's licenses that would serve as identification...MexiData adds a note that a fulfillment of these requests would be against Mexico's constitution.
...Marco Antonio Firebaugh, said that the governor "is the one who has the ability to make it law, to give this right to Mexicans, whether they have settled in California or not... We want the Mexican people to know that the measure is on his desk... However it is now September and he has not responded whatsoever, although we will insist on approval of the bill, basically so that illegal migrants can have access to education and health services in the U.S..."
Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez, from the San Fernando Valley, said that it is vital for Mexico to ask Schwarzenegger to approve this legislation "so that he would know that not only people of California, but an entire country is asking that he sign the bill."
(Via SaveOurLicense.com's latest news)
UPDATE: Now see "U.S. code 18 U.S.C. 953". What they did might have been illegal, not that anyone would have the guts to do anything about it.
Posted at 02:04 PM | Comments (4)
"Dan Walters: Schwarzenegger pleases neither side in fight over licenses"
Arnold's actions in the driver's licenses for illegal aliens matter so far are not as good as they could be, but it's the end result that matters.
Dan Walters thinks he won't please either side:
NEW YORK - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won boffo reviews for his prime-time Republican convention speech that extolled the virtues of fellow immigrants, but he returned to California on Thursday to veto a bill granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Schwarzenegger has not been coy about his intention to veto the licensing bill, easily the most controversial of the hundreds of measures enacted in the final hours of the legislative session that ended early Saturday. And he reiterated Thursday that the bill is deficient because it doesn't mark or color licenses of noncitizens differently, thereby making them less useful for opening accounts or other purposes...
During the debate before the vote in the Legislature, Cedillo and other advocates dwelled almost exclusively on what they said would be the traffic safety benefits of having drivers licensed and insured, while Republican critics said licensing illegal immigrants could be a security problem in an era of terrorist threats.
Neither faction wanted to talk about the real conflict, because to do so would rekindle California's divisive, racially tinged debate over the place that illegal immigrants hold in the state's economy and society - needed for their labor [I disagree --LW] but officially shunned for their illegal status. [I disagree as well. Otherwise we wouldn't have politicians pushing to give them things like licenses and voting rights --LW]
Those who back licensure clearly see it as a form of state-sanctioned quasi-legalization for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people who are integral members of society, removing clouds from their daily lives and opening up the possibility of opening bank accounts and otherwise moving out of the social background...
His best hope of resolving the stalemate may lie, ironically enough, in Washington's politicians, who control immigration policy but are equally befuddled by it. Schwarzenegger wants the federal government to set a national standard for driver's licenses that ends state-level debates as part of a larger agreement on immigration and homeland security policy.
"I think they will do it after the election," he says hopefully.
I discussed this doublethink on "immigration" here. And, I said Arnold should try to reduce the number of illegal aliens in California here.
The major long-term thing Arnold could do to resolve this problem is to reduce the number of illegals in California. If he's signed on to Bush's insane amnesty plan, he should reconsider. Instead, he should put pressure on Bush to simply enforce our immigration laws.
Posted at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
"Bustamante urged to step in and sign [illegal alien driver's license bill]"
From the SacBee:
State Sen. Gil Cedillo on Tuesday called on Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to sign his bill to allow illegal immigrants to apply for driver's licenses if the measure reaches his desk while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of state.
A spokesman for the Democratic lieutenant governor would not comment on the matter but noted Bustamante has not been involved in "the bill signing or vetoing process" in the past.
"That doesn't mean he won't at some point," said Stephen Green, a spokesman for Bustamante, who has voiced support for the hot-button bill that Schwarzenegger's aides say the governor will veto...
UPDATE: Huh? The San Diego Union-Tribune contradicts the above report:
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign this bill – not look for an out," Sen. Gil Cedillo said late yesterday [i.e., late Tuesday --LW]. "I'm not particularly interested in Cruz Bustamante signing it. I want Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign it."
...Cedillo said he's asked Bustamante not to sign the bill. "We all agree that it's something the governor should take responsibility for," Cedillo said.
That strategy could flush out the governor, forcing him in a veto message to explain why Democrats were strung along with public statements that he supports driver licenses for those here illegally, Cedillo said. "Tell us in writing what you want," Cedillo pleaded.
If the governor vetoes the bill, Cedillo said yesterday he'll reintroduce the measure.
But, of course. Thankfully, a semi-permanent solution is planned.
The Union-Tribune also includes the same quote from Bustamante's spokesman as the SacBee article, so I'm a bit confused.
Posted at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
"If 250,000 New York Driver's Licenses Do Not Match Social Security Data, How Many Voters are Illegally Registered?"
That's what FAIR wants to know:
In light of recent revelations that New York Department of Motor Vehicles has issued as many as 250,000 driver's licenses to individuals who provided Social Security numbers that do not match information in the Social Security Administration's database, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is calling upon the state's Board of Elections to conduct a county by county review of voter rolls. Under the Motor Voter law, it is reasonable to "assume that large numbers of individuals have also been unlawfully registered to vote," state FAIR in a formal demand letter to Board of Elections Chair Carole Berman...
Posted at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
Arnold will veto the illegal alien driver's license bill
So says Dan Weintraub:
The latest rumor racing around the talk radio circuit is that Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, acting governor while Schwarzenegger is in New York, will sign SB 1160, the bill giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. It's not going to happen, folks...
[Schwarzenegger's] Communications Director Rob Stutzman, speaking on KTKZ radio this morning, says his boss fully intends to veto the bill and won't let anyone else get their hands on it before he does so.
Posted at 11:56 AM | Comments (1)
How soon could we recall the entire California government?
Gil Cedillo might soon get Moter Voter cards driver's licenses into the hands of illegal aliens. The CA Assembly has just passed another bill into which SB1160 - the previous driver's license bill - had been inserted. Now it goes to the governor to be signed into law or vetoed. (Latest report here, out-of-date reports here and here).
Arnold Schwarzenegger has previously said he'd veto SB1160 in its current form; after the bill was passed Arnold reiterated his intent to veto the bill.
Only one problem: Arnold is out of town, and unrepentant MEChA member Cruz Bustamante is our acting governor. And, long-time Californians will remember Mike Curb. From this 10/28/03 article:
Lieutenant governors have taken varying degrees of liberty with their powers over the years.
The most extreme in recent history was Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, who appointed an appellate judge while Gov. Jerry Brown was out of state exploring a presidential run in 1979.
Brown was able to withdraw the nominations, only to have Curb resubmit them the next time he left California.
Will Bustamante try a Mike Curb?
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said he would "not be a Mike Curb."
"He feels it is unseemly for the acting governor to act like the governor, " said Bustamante spokesman Ardie Zahedani.
That's what he said then. Will he make an exception? If he does, will Arnold immediately overturn his decision? Could it all have been an Arnold-"One Bill Gil" conspiracy that would allow the bill to be signed into law while giving Arnold plausible deniability? When exactly will the bill be submitted to the governor's office, while he's away or will it take a week and will Arnold be back by that time? Stay tuned.
If this bill passes, expect a very large backlash that would hopefully end a few careers.
You can call Arnold at 916-445-2841. He previously had had an automated poll that would allow you to vote on whether illegal aliens should have driver's licenses. However, strangely enough, the poll seems to have been removed. Nevertheless, you can still call 24/7 and leave a message. Or, send an email to governor@governor.ca.gov
UPDATE 2: There's a more recent AP report here. The L.A. Times weighs in with "Driver's License Bill Clears Legislature but Faces Veto", which includes this laughable bit among others:
Cedillo also included a number of efforts intended to be conciliatory toward critics who said having licenses would make undocumented immigrants think they could serve on juries, vote or buy a gun: The bill would ensure that the names of illegal immigrants not be sent to court clerks for jury pools, and would provide all licensees with a form underscoring the prohibitions.
Like as not, the form with the prohibitions would remind the "immigrant" to pick up his Motor Voter form.
Posted at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
"License Crackdown Stirs Sharp Debate at Hearing"
Since this is a NYT report, the subtextual subtitle appears to be: "Working woman from Westchester County, immigrant workers hardest hit":
[At the meeting] Raymond P. Martinez, the state motor-vehicles commissioner, began his hour-and-a-half-long testimony by reminding the audience that 18 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 held valid driver's licenses.
"These license documents, issued in states where requirements were less stringent than those here in New York State, allowed the hijackers to board airplanes and execute their acts of terrorism against our nation," he said...
But in one of several sharp exchanges, Assemblyman Noah Nicholas Perry, a Democrat from Brooklyn, challenged the commissioner's references to the 9/11 terrorists, calling the assertion that they had been allowed to board planes because they had licenses "blatantly false," since the men also had valid passports. Other speakers, including Deborah Notkin, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, noted that since the hijackers had entered the country legally, they would have been able to obtain valid driver's licenses even under New York's restrictions.
I'm going to have to check on that, but one wonders why they went to Florida and Virginia. From Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA):
“On September 11, 2001 al Qaeda slipped into airports in Boston, Newark, and Washington, DC undetected. No less than 7 of these terrorists used authentic Virginia identification cards obtained from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
“The terrorists used Virginia identification cards for a reason. Although not a single one of these terrorists was actually a lawful resident of Virginia, they knew the weaknesses of Virginia’s identification process; and they exploited those weaknesses in their plot to kill thousand of Americans...
While Virginia moved swiftly to close the loopholes that made this possible, California has moved to widen them. Recently, the GAO sent three undercover agents into separate offices of the California DMV--each with false identification, purportedly from Texas, which they had manufactured themselves on a desktop computer using PhotoShop. According to the GAO, the documents should have been easily identified as forgeries. To make it especially easy for the California DMV to stop the fraud, each of the three undercover agents used the same fake name. Yet California cheerfully issued California driver’s licenses to all three of them--all based on the same poor quality forged documents, and all using exactly the same name...
For more on the GAO's investigation, see "Fake Documents, Real Drivers Licenses".
As a result of such laxity in licensing, all of the 9/11 hijackers had driver's licenses or state non-driver's identification cards, which they were able to use when renting housing, opening bank accounts, and boarding planes. For example, Hijacker Hanni Hanjour and Khalid Al-Midhar obtained Virginia licenses by hiring an illegal alien to co-sign their residency forms and listing his address as theirs. The day after they got their licenses, they sponsored two other hijackers, Salem Al-Hamzi and Majed Moqed, to get licenses, too...
Why, there was even an NPR report on it (audio at the link):
Robert Siegel reports on the Department of Motor Vehicles in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where a liberal policy for obtaining a driver's license or state identification card has led to years of fraud and corruption. It took the events of Sept. 11 to finally put an end to the policy, when the FBI learned that at least seven of the hijackers had gotten Virginia I.D. cards. Law enforcement officials have concluded that for the past several years, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants were able to get legal driver's licenses or identification cards from Virginia. Applicants didn't need the standard proofs of identity or residency -- such as social security cards or utility bills. Forms that were much easier to fake were accepted. And unscrupulous lawyers and notaries established a thriving illicit market for processing undocumented aliens for hefty fees.
And, as stated in the 9/11 report, 9/11 would not have happened if we had followed our visa rules.
Wouldn't proper coverage of this matter have reported on those last excerpts rather than just quoting the AILA's statements without comment?
Continuing with the NYT report:
[The AILA rep tugged at our heart strings with tales about a] working mother in Westchester County, [who] is frantic because her devoted Uruguayan babysitter, who has lived in New York since she was 12, will lose her license for lack of a Social Security number or valid visa; an elderly woman is going to lose the immigrant home health care aide who drives her to her doctor... [Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik] said he had met with Korean greengrocers and florists whose businesses are heavily dependent on immigrant truck drivers now losing their licenses.
Gosh, you think they could hire legal workers instead? Or, is that thinking too "out of the box" for the AILA and the NYT? And, once again, these people aren't "immigrants," they're illegal aliens. Further on in the report, Nina Bernstein euphemizes yet again, using "newcomers" when "illegal aliens" is the actual term.
Perhaps one of these days the NYT will look into this issue from a perspective based on laws, immigration policies, and the need for security, but I think a more balanced report is going to have to come from another paper.
Previous coverage of NYT immigration coverage starts here, and the previous report has pre-hearing coverage from the NY Post.
UPDATE: The NY Daily News' report is entitled "9/11 kin back
immig ID plan". Based on the last paragraph, I'm going to tentatively assume their use of "undocumented immigrants" and "immigrants" instead of "illegal aliens" is just ignorance and not part of an attempt to hide the truth:
Families of Sept. 11th victims backed yesterday a controversial state plan to revoke driver's licenses from hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who got them using fake Social Security numbers...
Undocumented immigrants and their advocates say they needed driver's licenses to get jobs, and had little choice but to provide phony Social Security numbers to get them.
Posted at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
"N.Y. '9/11' check yanks 300k driver licenses"
Hey, I don't write these headlines.
The N.Y. Post reports on New York state's attempts to take driver's licenses away from those who provided fake social security numbers. Their report is shorter than the NYT report I eviscerated yesterday. Unlike the NYT report it doesn't advocate for illegal immigration. It does, however, include the following quote. See if you can locate the threat:
"There are other options the DMV can follow consistent with existing law that would really lessen the hardship that is happening, and provide more opportunity for immigrants living and working in this community," said Amy Sugimori, staff lawyer for the National Employment Law Project...
I've never heard of the NELP before, but a preliminary google search turns up no less than 138 hits for "National Employment Law Project" "ford foundation".
Posted at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
Wouldn't it be nice if this problem would just go away?
Reading the SacBee article "License bill is likely headed to veto", I keep thinking one thing. The article is about the acrimonious attempt by Gil "One Bill Gil" Cedillo to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Cedillo appears to be calling Schwarzenegger's hand. Schwarzenegger wants a mark on the DL showing the holder to be an illegal alien; Cedillo doesn't want that mark, and, as previously pointed out, they're trying to smear their way to victory.
Wouldn't it be nice if this problem would just go away?
Wouldn't it be nice if Gil Cedillo, Fabian Nunez, and all the rest had far less power and there was no debate over giving legal licenses to illegal aliens? Cedillo and Nunez already have a power base, but at the least we can attempt to prevent them from increasing it.
Obviously, they want to increase their power by bringing in illegal aliens and giving them licenses. If we tried to prevent illegal immigration, not only would there be no such debate, they could be prevented from increasing their power at the expense of everyone else. Perhaps Arnold should consider putting pressure on Bush to enforce our laws.
Posted at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)
"Immigrants Face Loss of Licenses in ID Crackdown"
Oh no. Immigrants are being subjected to some form of crackdown? Let's read this NYT article:
Legislatures across the country have been wrestling publicly with a hot-button issue: whether to make it harder or easier for illegal immigrants to be licensed as drivers. The struggle to reconcile public security, road safety and the reality of millions of illegal immigrant workers has led to fierce disagreement and widely different laws - even as the 9/11 commission has urged the adoption of national standards.
As with other papers, the headline isn't telling the truth: these aren't "immigrants," they're illegal aliens. And, there are more things that need to be reconciled than those three listed above. Such as, should we really be giving legal driver's licenses to illegal aliens?
...officials at the [New York] State Department of Motor Vehicles have begun a crackdown on license fraud that will take away the driver's licenses of as many as 200,000 immigrants who cannot prove that they are here legally... Fear and protest spread in places like Westchester County and Staten Island as the letters reached longtime immigrant drivers... the outcry grew as immigrant advocates learned of cases in which bewildered immigrants who responded in person to motor vehicle offices had their licenses confiscated on the spot for lack of a Social Security number.Today the protests, and explanations by the crackdown's authors, will be presented in Manhattan at the first public hearing on the policy...
Shorter version: the authors of this crackdown certainly owe all of us an explanation for spreading fear in the immigrant community.
State officials say 250,000 licenses are in line to be suspended... "The public is going to be shocked when they find out how many people's Social Security numbers were used by other people unbeknownst to them," [Raymond P. Martinez, the state motor vehicles commissioner] said, putting the figure at more than 100,000, including one number that was used by 57 people......"Nobody has considered the bureaucratic nightmare that they're creating," said Margaret Stock, an associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point...
[...more complaints from Stock deleted...]
[...interviews with two illegal aliens deleted...]
Nowhere in the article does it state the simple, fundamental fact that perhaps we shouldn't be giving legal licenses to illegal aliens. After all, if we presumably want to disencentivize illegal immigration, not giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens is one good place to start.
If you were trying to evaluate the tone and content of this article for bias, here's a simple test: how different is this article from one that would have been written by one of those "immigrant advocacy" groups mentioned above? If you saw this article printed in a handout from one of those groups, wouldn't you think it had been written by someone from that group?
While the article contains two interviews with illegal aliens, it does not contain an interview with someone whose social security number was used by an illegal alien. Given the numbers above, someone like that shouldn't be too hard to find.
And, while we're treated to a long stretch of Margaret Stock's opinions, we don't hear from anyone who takes a contrary view. Perhaps Nina Bernstein could have interviewed one of the Florida sheriffs who opposed Jeb Bush's attempt to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens:
"It's incomprehensible to me that you would legitimize through the issuance of a driver's license someone who is here illegally," said Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean, who heads the law-enforcement arm of the task force. "I'm sure the governor has his reasons. From strictly a law-enforcement viewpoint, I would have to respectfully disagree..."
"This law is very poorly crafted and flawed from a domestic security standpoint. I strongly oppose it and cannot support the conceptual intent, either," [Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter] wrote in an e-mail.
Or, perhaps she could have interviewed the Commisioner of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety:
...advocates argue that they want to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants so they will be safer drivers. This argument is completely without merit and is a transparent attempt to turn the illegal immigrant problem into a public safety issue. There is no evidence that if illegal immigrants received drivers licenses, they would enroll in driver education programs, obtain insurance, and refrain from fleeing the scene of an accident. Common sense dictates that an individual on the run from the law would not wait around at an accident site for the police to arrive... The Department of Public Safety will not facilitate illegal immigration...
(That quote is also in this article about DLs for IAs.)
Note also that this article was written by Nina Bernstein, who was featured here just a few days ago as the author of the PIIPP ("pro-illegal immigration puff piece") entitled "From Immigrants, Stories Of Scrutiny, and Struggle". In that article she used the following phrase:
longtime immigrant workers who cannot prove that they are working legally
In this article, she uses the following:
200,000 immigrants who cannot prove that they are here legally
Maybe she's got a macro or something.
Please send a polite email to the NYT's Public Editor and suggest they do a better job with their immigration coverage: public@nytimes.com
1/11/05 UPDATE: The NYT article includes a quote from Margaret Stock. She's described as "an associate professor of national security law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, who is writing a paper on the driver's license issue... who is also a lieutenant colonel in the military police of the Army Reserves".
On April 1, 2004 she testified before congress, "on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association".
Along with her other qualifications, one would think the AILA link should have been mentioned in the NYT report.
Which raises the question: are other quote sources for the NYT's immigration stories who have undisclosed affiliations with the AILA, NIF, ACLU, PFAW, MALDEF, NCLR, etc. etc. etc.?
Posted at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
Schwartzenegger wants to know: do you oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens?
Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger is conducting a poll on "hot button issues," one of which is driver's licenses for illegal aliens.
To vote in the poll, call 1-916-445-2841 then enter 5, 2, and 2 at the prompts.
Posted at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)
No shame, Part 2
From an opinion piece in the L.A. Daily News:
Yet again Latino immigrants are being scapegoated.
This time the attacks are taking the form of immigrant raids in greater Los Angeles... [the sweeps do] nothing to address the U.S. policies that lead to immigration...
Believe me, it doesn't get better. How the Daily News could agree to print such an inaccurate and inflammatory piece is (almost) beyond me.
They aren't "attacks," they're "illegal aliens" not "immigrants," the law is being enforced and no one is being "scapegoated," and the I guess "greater Los Angeles" depends on how much you want to stretch the truth. They also blame U.S. policies for massive (illegal) immigration. It'd be nice if they distributed the blame to include the corrupt governments who use the U.S. as a safety valve.
There is one grain of truth in their piece. They complain that on the one hand "we" invite illegal aliens here to work, but on the other hand we deport them. We need to focus on workplace enforcement and fining and jailing those who hire illegal aliens. Of course there will still be complaints from the usual suspects, but at least we won't have a schizophrenic enforcement policy.
Posted at 03:26 PM | Comments (1)
Pro-illegal immigration advocates seemingly have no shame
They're attempting to not-so-subtly paint Schwarzenegger as a Nazi if he doesn't support Gil Cedillo's legal-driver's-licenses-for-illegal-aliens bill:
...in Tarzana a group of five rabbis from the Valley and one from Hollywood said they support giving licenses to illegal immigrants, but object to the governor's suggestion that such licenses have a mark which identifies the person as an illegal.
"It is inappropriate at best and deeply upsetting at worst," said Rabbi Dan Moscovitz of Temple Judea in Tarzana, reading a letter the rabbis sent to the governor last week.
"It will be used by some persons to treat the undocumented with scorn and ethnic discrimination."
Signers of the letter included Moscovitz, Rabbis Karen Bender and Donald Goor of Temple Judea, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, Rabbi Jim Kaufman of Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village and Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood.
Moscovitz cited the Jewish experience in being singled out during the Holocaust and said that, had this bill been proposed 40 years ago, Jews would have become targets of such discrimination.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the governor is not committed to the idea of the identifying mark, but has looked at it as a possibility.
See also the earlier post 'Gil Cedillo: using a horrible crime for political purposes'.
Posted at 03:16 PM | Comments (1)
Arnold decides he likes it when people vote for him
It looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting smart on the legal driver's licenses for illegal aliens issue:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is insisting that if driver's licenses are issued to illegal immigrants, the cards must specify that they are not lawful California residents, a requirement opponents liken to a "scarlet letter" that could pave the way for discrimination and abuse.
The issue has arisen as a major stumbling block in behind-the-scenes negotiations over legislation unveiled Tuesday by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, that would allow more than 2 million illegal immigrants to obtain licenses...
Xrlq has interesting commentary in 'Sen. Cedillo: OK, I Was Just Kidding About That “Public Safety” Thing'.
Posted at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
"Sponsor Drops Efforts To Give [Florida] Illegal Aliens Drivers Licenses"
From the AP:
A bill that would have allowed illegal aliens in Florida to obtain driver's licenses has been abandoned by its sponsor following security concerns raised by law enforcement officials around the state.
Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Hialeah, said Friday he would propose studying the issue before next year's legislative session begins. The bill (SB 1630) was backed by Gov. Jeb Bush, but it was quickly dismissed by sheriffs who questioned whether other countries could provide acceptable criminal background checks.
Bush acknowledged Saturday it would not pass this year but said he would continue to work with law enforcement to try to improve the measure before the next session...
It's over for now, but I have no doubt it will be back. Perhaps Jeb can come up with an even more complicated plan to work with several foreign governments. No doubt working with our own federal government to enforce our laws was considered too easy a solution.
Previous coverage starts here.
Posted at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)
"Good Grief, What's In The Tally Water???"
From the columnist Daniel Ruth writing about Jeb Bush's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens:
...Any bets that within six months, had the Florida Senate not killed Bush's flight of fantasy, Osama bin Laden might well have been driving a cab in Miami?
C'mon, this is Florida state government - a SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Floriduhed Up) waiting to happen.
In a state where at least 12 of the 19 terrorist hijackers of Sept. 11 possessed Florida driver's licenses or identity cards, Jeb Bush wanted everyone to believe those bent on evil-doing weren't going to figure a way around any paper- pushing safeguards the state could concoct?
Previous coverage of Jeb Bush's wacky plan here, here, and here.
Posted at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
Florida sheriffs oppose Jeb Bush's illegal alien driver's licenses bill
Finally some good news:Sheriffs around the state are quickly opposing a proposal backed by Gov. Jeb Bush to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, saying it is too great a security risk.I couldn't find a definitive list of Florida terrorist groups. Perhaps one or more of them are Cuban exile groups; others are probably Islamist; he might be thinking of groups from other backgrounds as well. One possible reference is to Sami al-Arian. ('Feds expose Florida 'cell', 'Al-Arian was FBI informant briefly, documents show', 'Bush's terrorist buddy'. See also the section "Palestinian Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction" at this page.
The opposition has included sheriffs who serve on the state's Domestic Security Task Force.
"It's incomprehensible to me that you would legitimize through the issuance of a driver's license someone who is here illegally," said Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean, who heads the law-enforcement arm of the task force. "I'm sure the governor has his reasons. From strictly a law-enforcement viewpoint, I would have to respectfully disagree..."
"This law is very poorly crafted and flawed from a domestic security standpoint. I strongly oppose it and cannot support the conceptual intent, either," [Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter] wrote in an e-mail.
He warned that there are six Latin-American terror groups that are active in and around Florida. The documentation they would need from their countries to get a license can be easily obtained or counterfeited, he said...
However, my search for terrorist groups in Florida brought up some links of varying wackiness. This page ties cronyism and alleged dirty tricks by the whole Bush family to - wait for it - bass fishing. Terrorism is mentioned in relation to Bush appointee Otto Reich; see 'Bush nominee linked to Latin American terrorism' or 'The President's Favourite Terrorists'. Coming from the other side of the wackiness scale, see 'Russia Hides Information That Could Save Lives in War on Terror'.
Many or most of the allegations in that last set of articles might be false. However, isn't it a bit interesting that there's such a Latin American flavor to all those Bush connections. Jeb and illegals, Dubya and illegals, Jeb and Dubya and George I and Cuba, etc. etc. Taken in this light, the Bush family loses whatever all-American facade it had as one realizes that in their case "all-American" refers to a hemisphere.
Posted at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)
Jeb Bush answers your questions on driver's licenses for illegal aliens
A FReeper received a reply from Jeb Bush regarding his support for illegal alien driver's licenses:
Florida Safe Driving Act
[1] Why give driver licenses to undocumented aliens? [sic, that should be "illegal aliens" -- LW]
Florida has no power over immigration and naturalization issues, but it does have a duty to protect the safety of its citizens. Allowing Florida’s more than 400,000 illegal aliens to obtain a driver license under very strict conditions will increase safety on our roads and highways. It will boost compliance with Florida’s auto registration and insurance laws...
[2] Why wouldn’t the state just deport the aliens once they have verified their identity?
Under Federal law, no state has the power to deport anyone; it is exclusively the domain of the Federal government...
The bill creates a mechanism for Florida to work with foreign consulates to approve a stringent means by which to verify the alien’s identity and ensure the consulate is not issuing a duplicate ID...
[5] How does this differ from California law?
First, California law did not exclude applicants from the list of countries maintained by the U.S. Department of State as state sponsors of terrorism. In addition, California did not require state and national criminal background checks, nor did it provide procedures in conjunction with foreign consulates to verify identity and criminal backgrounds with an applicant’s home country...
I've got a better idea. Just get your brother to do his job, one major one being to enforce the immigration laws.
Florida is able to make complicated deals with foreign consulates, but they're unable to work with the federal government to enforce our immigration laws? I don't buy it.
I have the vague feeling that there's some kind of coordination here between Jeb Bush and Arnold. This consulate scheme sounds too complicated for just one state to implement it; there's probably a plan to export it to California at some point.
Hopefully someone in Florida is working on a recall petition right now.
Posted at 08:50 PM | Comments (1)
"Governor [Jeb Bush] endorses illegal-alien driving bill"
As predicted in the last post. From the Miami Herald:
Saying rigorous screening standards would ensure recipients ''won't be terrorists,'' Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday strongly endorsed issuing state driver's licenses to both illegal immigrants and foreign nationals who make Florida home for part of the year.
Hundreds of thousands of people could be affected by the proposal, which is currently making its way through the Florida Legislature. Sen. Rudy Garcia, a Hialeah Republican pushing the measure in the Senate, says it would enable those stuck in immigration limbo to drive with valid licenses and get insurance while they work to become citizens.
''Our roads and streets will be safer because of this,'' Garcia said, adding that the sprawling nature of most Florida cities makes owning a car a necessity, and that the state, by not giving illegal immigrants licenses, ``almost tells these folks to break the law, because that's the only way they're going to be doing anything.''
...The driver's license question presents lawmakers with a potentially volatile election-year issue, one that could woo Hispanic voters but is also credited with helping defeat former California Gov. Gray Davis during last year's recall election.
...Bush also made it a point to say he was not encouraging more illegal immigration into the United States.
''We shouldn't allow them to come into our country to begin with,'' Bush said. ``But once they're here, what do you do? Do you say that they're lepers to society? That they don't exist? It seems that a policy that ignores them is a policy of denial.''
We've come to expect bizarre behavior from Floridians, and the quotes above are prime examples.
As for "those folks" breaking the law, they've already broken at least one law by illegally staying in our country. They may have broken others as well. As for Jeb's statement that this won't encourage more illegal immigration, that's beyond laughable. When you offer incentives for a certain behavior, you automatically encourage more of that behavior. By making it easy to be an illegal alien in Florida, Jeb will just encourage more illegal immigration.
Jeb would be advised to consider the following from the Davis recall:
An exit poll commissioned by the Federation for American Immigration Reform showed that 30 percent of California voters said they were somewhat or much more likely to vote against Mr. Davis because he signed the law. Only 8 percent of voters were somewhat or much more likely to support him because of it.
Posted at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
Jeb Bush comes out in favor of illegal alien driver's licenses
According to the Stein Report:
The Stein Report has learned that Florida Governor Jeb Bush today endorsed granting driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Bush's position comes despite the fact that several of the Sept. 11 hijackers used Florida driver's licenses, and driver's license security remains a pressing issue nationwide. Bush reportely commented that illegal immigrants should be kept out of the country, but once they are here they shouldn't be ignored.
Posted at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
Are Schwarzenegger and Cedillo trying to pull a fast one?
Heard on the John and Ken Show (KFI Los Angeles):
According to Ron Prince of Save187.com, the new CA driver's licenses for illegal aliens bill is designed to be "referendum-proof" and if it passes, an initiative would need to be created to overturn it. The next time an initiative could be voted on would be two years from now. No web page with this information is available yet.
The bill (SB1160) was sponsored by Gil Cedillo and marked with an "urgency clause." That urgency clause means that after it's passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, it immediately becomes law.
The legislature must vote 2/3 for the bill, however that 2/3 vote only requires two Republicans in the senate, and six Republicans in the Assembly.
Prince quotes a legislative aide to Schwarzenegger as saying that the "Governor is working with Gil Cedillo to come up with a referendum-proof bill."
Please contact Arnold and politely let him know what you think:
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
governor@governor.ca.gov
UPDATE: I called and was told that Schwarzenegger isn't "working with" Cedillo, he's just watching what proposals he's coming up with and providing comments. I was told that Schwarzenegger can't comment on something until it's a real bill. The spokesman confirmed the essence of Ron Prince's statements regarding the effect of the urgency clause vis-a-vis when it goes into law and how we'd have to get rid of it. He also stated that mine was among many other calls they've received on this.
Posted at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
Gil Cedillo: using a horrible crime for political purposes
You might recall the story of the Fremont mother and daughter who were murdered in Fremont a month ago. They were illegal aliens, and one of their family members tried to blame their murders on the fact that they didn't have driver's licenses. They were murdered while walking to work; if they'd had driver's licenses they could have taken a car. One of the articles mentioned that they couldn't afford a car, but, I digress don't I.
The AP, the Arizona Republic, and other newspapers tried to politicize this and turn it into not only a it-could-be-a-hate-crime because the perp was supposedly white, but they also tried to turn it into a poster crime for allowing illegal aliens to get driver's licenses.
Now, state Senator (and former member of the racial separatist organization MEChA) Gil Cedillo has joined the fray. See 'Fremont slayings inflame driver's license debate':
The unsolved slayings of two women violently attacked while walking to work earlier this month has become a rallying cry for supporters of a movement to allow illegal immigrants the right to obtain driver's licenses.
But license opponents accuse them of memorializing the victims, who were living in the country illegally, for the wrong reasons.
Immigrant-rights groups have staged three vigils to promote their political cause since Feb. 1, the morning a man wielding a tree branch beat to death Maria Esperanza Hernandez, 39, and her daughter, Maria del Carmen Castillo Hernandez, 19.
The most recent vigil, which was held Thursday, was attended by state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, the author of a controversial license law that was repealed last year.
Many of the nearly 100 participants who marched along Fremont Boulevard with Cedillo -- chanting phrases in Spanish, such as "What do we want?" "Licenses." "When do we want them?" "Now!" -- say they are certain that the victims would still be alive had they had a license and been able to drive to work...
"What happened to these two women wasn't right," said Ramon Correa, 55, an auto mechanic who marched with the crowd. "We need the laws to change, for the good of all of us."
But connecting the deaths to the license law is rankling those who oppose the granting of licenses to undocumented immigrants.
"They're exploiting somebody's death," said Al Figone, 53, a San Jose salesman who is critical of any legislation to allow illegal immigrants to legally drive. "It's a political thing, it needs to be resolved on a political level..."
...Cedillo, in an interview at the vigil, said anybody who accuses him of political grandstanding is taking a "cynical perspective" of the deaths. "Do we know for sure that but for this law, that this situation wouldn't have happened? We don't. But we do know for sure it did happen, and it happened under these circumstances."
Some participants at the vigil, organized by immigrant rights group Voluntarios de la Comunidad, a San Jose-based organization, acknowledged that politics plays a role in promoting their cause.
"Maybe we've drifted a little, and I have a conscience to say that," said Blanca Estela Villegas, a 34-year-old hotel banquet supervisor who wore a bandanna of a U.S. flag on her head. "But," she added, "What are we supposed to do?"
[Also appears in the San Jose Mercury News under title 'License ban tied to two slayings'.]
Posted at 11:53 PM | Comments (3)
"Another push to give illegals a driver's license"
From this:
There's another effort underway under the gold dome to allow illegal immigrants to get a Georgia driver's license. A similar bill died last year.
State Representative Barbara Mobley of Decatur authored the current bill which she said would just allow people who contribute to the state's economy to get to work...
"For homeland security we have to have the community accounted for. What better than having the driver's license with your name address, photo and finger print," Representative Pedro Marin of Lawrenceville said.
State Senator Sam Zamarippa supports the bill.
"We're only saying three things. We want to make the roads safer. We want to improve security, and we want to keep our economy strong," Zamarippa said.
In presenting its legislative wish list to lawmakers last week, Georgians For Immigration Reduction said it does not want illegal aliens to be issued a drivers license.
The group is also urging banks and other businesses to stop excepting Mexican-issued identification cards as legal U.S. ID's and pushing for more co-operation between local law enforcement and immigration agents...
For the scoop on Sam Zamarippa, see this:
A quote from closer to home from Georgia state Sen. Sam Zamarippa in 2000: “Your song may be, "We Shall Overcome.’ Our song is "We shall overwhelm.’"... Zamarippa was explaining how the Hispanic lobby would handle resistance to Hispanic “influence” in our region.
Barbara Mobley is an immigration lawyer by profession. You can contact her here.
For an extremely shocking accusation about Pedro Marin, see this:
State Representative Pedro Marin (D-Duluth) has failed to disclose his position as Executive Director of Centro Mexicano De Atlanta/The Mexican Center Of Atlanta, Inc., a non-profit corporation with a legal domicile at the Atlanta Mexican Consulate Office...
Supposedly he's drawing a $50,000 per year salary from them. In other words (in the immigration debate it's frequently necessary to repeat things over and over) a foreign government is paying a State senator money.
Doesn't that make him an agent of the Mexican government?
You can contact GA's State Senators from this page and the reps from here.
A similar effort is underway in California and Kansas.
UPDATE: I called the Georgia State Ethics Commission at 404 463 1985 and was told that the complaint against Pedro Marin will not be investigated until early May. I'll call back and check on the status.
Posted at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
"Bush plan may help drive for immigrant licenses"
From the San Jose Mercury News:
Proposed legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses in California may have received an unexpected political boost this week when President Bush announced a sweeping plan for immigration reform.In the Bay Area and across the state, supporters of the driver's license effort believe that the president's plan will help their campaign to get a new bill introduced in California.
What about those who don't support this bill? Why is the only dissenting voice in this entire article saved until the very last paragraph, paragraph #17? Quotes from the supporters are featured in paragraphs 3, 6, 9, 13, and 15.
...Sen. Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said his plan to introduce a new version of the driver's license bill is on track to be introduced this month.``It's very helpful for the president to go out there and acknowledge the contribution of immigrants,'' said Cedillo, who for the last five years has pushed for legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants in the state to drive legally.
We're a nation of immigrants, as they keep reminding us. How could we ever forget about the contribution of immigrants? Oh, wait, Cedillo meant the contribution of illegal immigrants. He just didn't say what he meant.
...``The federal proposal is more an explicit immigration policy. The California proposal is about highway safety,'' Cedillo said.
Why doesn't the reporter call Cedillo on his Big Lie? It's not about "highway safety." It's about votes and power for Cedillo. I mean, if you've got the guy on the line for a quote, you might as well ask him a tough question or two, right? Isn't that what reporters are supposed to do? Since when is reporting about parroting obvious lies?
Also, as in other stories about immigration matters, the reporter or editor misuses some terms.
Here's a handy chart showing the error on the left and the correct term on the right:
- title: "immigrant" -> "illegal immigrant"
- lede: "UNDOCUMENTED DRIVERS" -> "ILLEGAL ALIEN DRIVERS"
- para 1: "undocumented immigrants" -> "illegal aliens"
- para 6: "undocumented immigrants" -> "illegal aliens"
- para 10: "undocumented immigrants" -> "illegal aliens"
- para 11: "undocumented workers" -> "illegal alien workers"
- para 12: "undocumented immigrants" -> "illegal aliens"
- para 14: "undocumented immigrants" -> "illegal aliens"
Posted at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
"A desperate governor makes rash promises"
The San Diego Union-Tribune and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin both have editorials opposing SB60, Gil Cedillo's bill (now supported by Governor Gumby Davis) to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens:
"Easing license rules a wrong move for state"
"Unlicensed aliens: A desperate governor makes rash promises"
(Via DailyPundit and CalBlog)
Posted at 04:53 PM | Comments (1)
Davis: "I'll sell out my country to keep my job"
Gray Davis didn't say that exactly, but he might as well have:
Gov. Gray Davis is vowing to sign legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses -- a move that could energize Latinos to oppose his recall but anger other voters...
[State Senator Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles)] on Monday defended his measure as "sound public policy." The East Los Angeles Democrat contends it would not only make roads safer for California motorists but improve national security.
"This is not immigration policy; this is highway safety policy," Cedillo said. "I don't anticipate a (voter) backlash because at the end of the day, if they're concerned about national security, we address those concerns..."
"Clearly, California is a Democratic state, and we don't want (the 2002 gubernatorial) election stolen by people who don't reflect the mainstream of California," Cedillo said.
God help us if Gil Cedillo represents the "mainstream of California."
When he talks about "public safety," isn't that just a Big Lie? Won't voters see through this? Here's what the Commisioner of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety had to say when a similar bill was proposed in MN:
...advocates argue that they want to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants so they will be safer drivers. This argument is completely without merit and is a transparent attempt to turn the illegal immigrant problem into a public safety issue. There is no evidence that if illegal immigrants received drivers licenses, they would enroll in driver education programs, obtain insurance, and refrain from fleeing the scene of an accident. Common sense dictates that an individual on the run from the law would not wait around at an accident site for the police to arrive... The Department of Public Safety will not facilitate illegal immigration...
If not public safety, then what could Cedillo and his friends be after? Well, perhaps the article can give us a clue. I mean, the upshot of the article is that Gray is supporting this bill to get votes.
Why would Cedillo and Davis want to get "breeder documents" like driver's licenses into the hands of as many illegal aliens as possible? Doesn't it make much more sense that they want votes and power, and that they care not a whit about public safety? I mean, won't those grateful illegal aliens turn around and vote for them? Now, that makes sense.
Perhaps this quote from Cedillo might shed some light on what he's really after:
"Latinos have displaced other work communities - clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries that used to be done by blacks and anglos... Since Latinos are now central to union revitalization, through immigration and high birth rates unions can be partisan for full Latino empowerment."
And, won't this bill just send a message around the world that California doesn't care about federal immigration law? All you need to do is make it over the California border, and we'll give you all the rights of a citizen, with few of the responsibilities and none of the messy formalities like waiting in line like the chumps.
Signing this bill will certainly not decrease illegal immigration, and it will most likely cause it to rise to an even greater level.
Would "responsible" public servants like Gray Davis and Gil Cedillo really do something like that? Apparently so.
Recall that one of the reasons Gil gave for this bill was that "they were here first." That statement is also refuted in great detail here.
And, apparently he thinks driver's licenses for illegal aliens are a "right":
"We want our rights -- nothing more," [Cedillo] said [at a rally in Santa Rosa].
See also his statement concerning illegal aliens serving in the U.S. military, which the LAT has since retracted.
Cedillo also wanted to make illegal aliens undocumented immigrants a protected class under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. This in-depth article has more on that attempt as well as other Cedillo-related issues.
For background information on this issue, see "FAIR Works Against Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens", "California’s Racial Iceberg", and this post.
As for the article itself, it does discuss Davis' possible motivation a bit. However, it doesn't go far enough, and it doesn't go into what Cedillo is really after. Hopefully one day a reporter from the Sacramento Bee will cover the details provided above instead of just taking Cedillo's statements at face value.
Posted at 11:55 PM | Comments (14)
