I’m surprised that no one has brought this up. Davis signed the “Driver License for Illegal Aliens” bill last night–and the event was supposedly only announced to the Latino Media outlets.
Do illegal immigrants really need to be able to drive legally? There is nothing in the bill that requires them to get insurance…that’s tied to car registration. I’d say that they should first worry about becoming legal residents in the state, then, by all means, get a license and join the rest of the crazy people on our roads.
A cite to the new law would have been really helpful.
Of course they need to be able to drive. You can’t even get around in California without a car. As far as insurance, when the register the car they will have to have it. They aren’t going to drive very long without registering the vehicle.
Again, this is just based on your post. I’d really need to know more about the law first.
urban1z, I have seen an unregistered car get driven around for over a solid year. That’s plenty of time to have an uninsured accident.
Permitting illegal aliens to obtain valid licensing and documentation is some of the most flagrant political pandering I’ve seen in donkey’s ears. It’s just one more reason why Davis is a moron of the highest water. When I see this sort of chicanery, I’m forced to wonder if California doesn’t deserve its loony reputation.
This is one of those things that I simply cannot understand. These people are here ILLEGALLY, and we want to give them U.S. drivers licenses?!?!? I’d like to hear what some proponents of this bill have to say about this.
“Cedillo and other supporters said the new bill is about making the state’s highways safer by encouraging undocumented immigrants to take driving tests and get car insurance.”
Make the roads safer by not having them here in the first place! It just boggles my mind that California would be pretty much legalizing illegal immigration. This is the biggest scam to get votes I’ve ever seen. Wait…I’m having a vision…soon using a California Drivers License as identification will be a joke.
No wonder New Mexico is so dang windy with the way Texas sucks and California blows, hehehe.
Wow… well, where to begin? First of all, this action hardly “legalizes” illegal immigration. If you’re here illegally and caught by the INS, a valid California drivers’ license will just spare your arresting agent 2-3 minutes of questioning about your name and present address- you’re still going to be Unca Sam’s guest on the next government 'Hound down to Tijuana.
All flippancy aside, however, SB60 is just one more acknowledgement of a fact about California’s economy that many conservatives seem to conveniently ignore: without illegal Mexican labor, the California economy would crumble within months. Crops would rot in their fields. Housing construction would become prohibitively expensive, if skilled work crews were even available. Hell, even Pete Wilson’s local McDonald’s would have dirty bathrooms. Illegal immigrants, by and large, do the dirty, uncomfortable, or otherwise thankless jobs that most Californians/Americans are simply too disdainful to occupy. Even if illegal immigration was completely eradicated in the United States, California companies would still have to bus in Mexican laborers- the workers would just have pretty-looking offical visas, this time.
Now, with that being said, SB60 looks a lot more like a no-brainer: it’s the choice between getting several million potential drivers into the DMV system, with the concomitant benefits of education, regulation, and surveillance that the system provides; or purposely locking them out of that system, which does nothing for society at large. (Except maybe encouraging them to flee the scene after they’ve hit me in their car in order to avoid arrest.) Given that choice, SB60 sounds pretty damn reasonable. Besides, urban1z is right- how the hell do you expect to get around California without wheels? Geez, it took me 15 minutes by car to get to the nearest 7-11 when I lived there.
By the way, Eric Schlosser’s Reefer Madness has a great section about the illegal immigrants in the Monterey area who pick your strawberries. Highly reccomended.
M.
IIRC, the WTC hijackers were able to use something like this to get documents which enabled them to stay in the country. I think they travelled to a state which allowed illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses, they then travelled to another state, and showed state officials there, the driver’s licenses which they obtained, those state officials thought that the hijackers were legal residents of the US since the hijacker’s licenses didn’t say “Illegal Alien” on them.
As for getting insurance, well, when they decided to allow illegals to get licenses in TN, the insurance companies all stated that they would not issue policies for illegals. Also, cops have told me (pre-9/11) that there’s not really very much they can do when they arrest an illegal for a minor violation. INS wasn’t particularly interested in coming out and grabbing the illegal, and if the crime wasn’t severe, then the illegal would probably do a few hours/days in jail before being released, that’s it.
I’m all for immigration reform, but this crap is for the birds, IMHO.
Oh, and I’ve driven cars with expired tags for months without getting a ticket. The secret is to obey all traffic laws, make sure all your lights are working, and stay off the roads on holidays. I’ve also driven on a suspended license for over a year using the same method.
And this is some of the most racist rationalizing I’ve ever heard.
There were similar arguments in the 1800’s about slaves and cotton. Yet, surprisingly, every single item of clothing I’m wearing right now is primarily composed of cotton. If immigration laws were enforced, agriculture would have to modernize or increase their employment costs. I’m sure we could adjust.
Frankly the arguments like this are so beyond the pale it makes me sick. Sure, keep importing a lower class to do the dirty work. Allow the whities to not have to do the dirty work. Just toss the illegals a bone here or there to keep their friends voting the right way.
Disgusting. Especially how every single person I’ve heard defending this travesty of law begins with the racist argument and ends with the “you’re just against immigrants”–conveniently discarding the troublesome phrase “illegal” in the process. It’s pandering and lying and it’s disgusting. (And Davis is desperately trying to save his politcal future or make friends on his way out.) I’m one CA Republican who’s wondering why I remain here in the state.
Indeed. Secure the borders and deal with any economic hardships that come. You know, rule of law or something like that.
For the record, the only reason I didn’t start a thread to discuss the subject was because I was too dumbfounded that the bill actually passed. That and I couldn’t imagine an argument in defense of it. Except the racist one or the lying one.
Another aspect of this bill is that it may indirectly lead to illegal aliens being able to register to vote. According to the state of California’s on-line voter registration page, in order to register to vote, an applicant must produce either the last four numbers of his or her social security number, a California ID card, OR a driver’s license.
Davis was against the previous form of this bill, which was actually slightly more restrictive. It’s pure (recall) politics for him now. The idea that illegal immigrants will drive more safely if they have a license is pretty liducrous.
The last time any of you got on a plane, what form of identification did you use? This is bad policy. I agree with emarkp. I think most of us would be willing to pay a bit more for lettuce if we could have better secured borders.
I have to wonder how many illegal aliens are going to be willing to take advantage of the new law even if it passes.
If you’re here illegally, in more-or-less constant fear of being busted by the INS, are you going to be willing to go into a government-run DMV office and give some government employee the kind of personal information that’s necessary to be issued a driver’s license (and which would help the INS track you down)?
So why is so much shitty work done by immigrants? Domestic workers, office cleaners, most fast food workers, nurses aides, seasonal agricultural workers, garment assembly, Silicon Valley assembly, etc etc.
Is it racist to point it out?
Why aren’t Americans (and Canadians) lining up for this badly-paid, insecure, low-status work? Why does the government look the other way when they know that undocumented workers are performing this work? Please answer. I’m really curious.
The driver’s license is the de facto national identification card.
I haven’t seen anyone dispute this yet. I also don’t understand why the people who wanted this didn’t offer to issue a driver’s license that’s clearly labeled “Non-Citizen”.
I can only think that this is a way for the left to circumvent the laws and make all illegal aliens “de facto” American citizens, with all power to vote for them. For example at the voting booth: “¿Es usted un americano?” “Sí, tengo una licencia del conductor.” “Bien.” “¿Quién es el Democrat en esta elección?”
Already the federal government is warning that the driver’s license will not be good enough to cross the border in Tijuana. Passports now? I imagine the passport will be the only way to board a plane now, too. How inconvenient.
And further I haven’t seen the safeguards against identity theft… the driver’s license is a breeder document for more identification, is it not?
My guess is that, having vetoed several versions of the bill previously, Davis is to get the best of both worlds.
He needs a boost from the Latino vote to buck the recall, so he finally signs it.
Of course, there’s bounds to be a major lawsuit any day now, and some court is going to throw the new law out, as it violates the spirit of US immigration policy.
scot: The Federal government forced the State of California to extend certain programs to illegal immigrants. I don’t see the feds being too concerned about this.
It’s not racist to point it out. It is racist to assert that it’s the only way it can be–that mexicans are essentially fit only for doing low-wage, untrained labor.
This is just a guess, but maybe because it’s badly-paid, insecure and low-status work? But because they’re paying under the table to a class of people who cannot get better work (because if illegals get too high a profile, they’ll get deported, many don’t know English well enough to get a better job, etc.) the wages remain low, etc. However, there are other states that grow crops who do not rely on illegal immigrants. My brother-in-law is a janitor. The assertion that Americans wouldn’t do the jobs is erroneous.
Excellent question. We have a federal judiciary which says that any person in the US basically has to have all the rights of a citizen, a federal government which is currying favor of hispanics for votes (which drives me nuts as a Republican–seeing Republicans doing this), and a one-party state (in CA right now, every single statewide elected official is Democrat) which seems to want to wholly ignore immigration law.
I would love to see employers of illegal immigrants get nailed for their illegal behavior. I would also like to see illegal immigrants get deported and our borders become secure.
Darn tooting that it’s erroneous that Americans won’t do janitor jobs! I worked as a janitor when I was in high school. The job actually paid better than minimum wage, the company for which I worked was generally good to the employees. Although two of my brothers and I were doing that job to make spending money and/or save some cash for school, there were quite a few other employees who needed the job. AFAIK, not a one of them was an illegal alien.
I also would like to see employers who knowingly hire illegals get nailed for breaking the law. First step, I think, would be to give such an employer a permanent ban on government contracts. Or how about a permanent ban on receiving subsidies?
You do realize that a huge variety on non-citizens who are in the United States for some reason or another legitamately hold drivers licenses without any sort of special lables on them. A drivers license has never been proof of citizenship, which is why when you apply for a job they ask to see two forms of identification or a passport (which requires two forms of identification to get). Also, airlines never ask if you are a citizen or not. Interstate flights are not mini-customs inspections. They are merely interested in if you are the person you claim to be or not- and until recently, any sort of photo ID (even a high school ID) could work.
The thing I don’t understand is I thought that if a government agency (such as the DMV) found out you were illegal, they reported you so INS deported you (I’m not making a judgement on whether or not it’s proper, but I thought it was SOP.) Why would they giving them licenses instead of reporting them for deportation? Even if there’s only the preception that they’re supposed to do that, it’s going to undermine the effort to get them to become licensed.
