Dead-end politics

Licenses for illegals would take California in the wrong direction

By Errol Tremolada
From the September 2004 Print Edition

Democratic Senator Gil Cedillo from Los Angeles wants to allow an estimated two million illegal immigrants to receive driver’s licenses. The legislation, known as SB 1160, was placed on file as of June 28, 2004, with the Senate Appropriations Committee because this bill would cost the state more than $150,000. The tentative date for the committee to vote on the issue is August 13, 2004.

If approved, SB 1160 would repeal the requirement to provide proof of federally endorsed citizenship in order to receive a driver’s license. It would also force the DMV to accept foreign passports, foreign driver’s licenses, consular cards, foreign birth certificates or foreign military identification cards in order to apply for a driver’s license.

A similar bill, led by Senator Cedillo, was passed into legislation during Governor Gray Davis’ administration; after Governor Schwarzenegger was sworn in to replace Davis, he quickly repealed the bill just as he had promised his supporters during his campaign. Senator Cedillo is on the attack again, however, as the leading supporter and sponsor of SB 1160. While it would seem that Cedillo carries the support of the entire Hispanic community, recent statistics show otherwise: the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in Claremont found that one in three Hispanic voters oppose driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.

Proponents of the bill argue that, because illegal workers will drive regardless of whether they have legal licenses, this measure will ultimately ensure safer driving. Advocates suggest that encouraging illegal aliens to attain licenses would require them to learn the safety regulations of the road, creating a safer driving environment overall.

Such arguments, however, direct public attention away from the main issue. In reality, many see this bill as a stealthy maneuver to grant illegal aliens residential status. The bill’s dangers lie primarily in its potential to open up new doors to illegal aliens, such as bank accounts and healthcare, creating a slippery slope which defies the important distinction between what is legal and what is illegal. The last thing we should do is extend new privileges to those who have avoided legal procedures.

Additionally, many states refuse to pass bills allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver’s license because of the ease with which the September 11 terrorists obtained licenses in Florida, Virginia and New Jersey. By requiring the DMV to accept so many new forms of identification when a person applies for a driver’s license, the proponents of this bill are inviting a new infiltration of terrorists into the United States. At a time when careful identification and background checks are imperative, the Legislature would be turning a blind eye to the security issues facing our country by allowing unknown and illegal residents easy access to an important form of legal identification.

Since a driver’s license is the main form of identification in the United States, there is speculation about labeling illegal immigrants who hold driver’s licenses so they will still be identifiable as illegal residents. Some argue that this is a form of discrimination, but if one is not a citizen the United States is not bound to protect that person under the Constitutional laws which protect legal residents. The protection and security of our borders should be our first priority.

The only real accomplishment of SB 1160 is to blur the line of distinction between illegal aliens and legal residents. Providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses may open the door to their acquisition of many other privileges that are only available with residency. Not only would it become more difficult to discern whether a person is living in the United States legally or illegally, but offering driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants would be a slap in the face to legal immigrants and naturalized citizens who have worked within the law to attain these privileges.

Will we find that illegal residents with driver’s licenses are truly more responsible than any other immigrants who break the law by evading the border patrol? Most likely not. More importantly, we must not deviate from the idea that with United States citizenship comes opportunity and freedom. If a person attains residency legally, only then may he be protected by our laws.

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